


Wired in

by JustAnotherSamlicker



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, F/M, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, IT-er Gabriel, M/M, Manager Sam, Manipulation, Misunderstandings, Office Party, Office Romance, Revenge, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:01:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 45,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22700632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnotherSamlicker/pseuds/JustAnotherSamlicker
Summary: Gabriel works in the IT department of a mayor company. A weird ticket is shot in by the head of the legal department and Gabriel decides to investigate. Not only is the guy gorgeous and kind, he cares about what Gabriel has to say.When Sam helps Gabriel's project get approved, they spend a lot of time working on it, but not everyone is happy about the two of them getting closer.UPDATES EVERY WEDNESDAY
Relationships: Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Ruby/Sam Winchester
Comments: 96
Kudos: 76





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> After some time on hiatus I finally found the will to write again, so this story will be updated every single week on Wednesday again :D

Gabriel sighed as he handled one of the tickets that had just come in. He loved working in IT, but he had expected to do more development. Instead, most of his days were filled with the mind numbing task of responding to tickets from users that weren't always as tech-savvy as Gabriel had suspected from a professional working environment. It didn't help that his team of two people plus manager, had to facilitate IT services for the more than 500 employees of morningstar Inc.

In fairness, he couldn't complain to much. Charlie, his manager, knew Gabriel's passion was in development. She made sure to give him some extra assignments whenever possible. He was also working in an amazing, if slightly too small, team. It was nice to just have a place where he could be himself. And even if he didn't enjoy 70% of his workload, the rest of it was enough to keep him motivated. 

The place itself wasn't all that amazing. At least, not the office space that Morningstar Inc. had allocated to the IT department.   
Their office, that they dubbed 'The Cave' was nothing more than a windowless room on the second floor. It was a small and stuffed with spare monitors and keyboards. They had settled on keeping them in the IT-office, since a bunch of people got annoyed if they had to go all the way to the supply closet on the third floor. 

Despite the lack of proper ventilation and the heat coming in from the processor room, the place felt like home. And the people he shared it with weren't just colleagues, by now he considered them to be his friends. Balthazar and Charlie were both very close to the IT stereotype weirdness, but very far from the isolated introverts some thought they'd be. They were both already working there when Gabriel started, but he had felt accepted and included since day one. 

Gabriel's desk was opposite that of Balthazar and behind him sat Charlie. Despite being the manager of the department, she always helped out with the regular day to day jobs. She said it had to do with the department being so small, but Gabriel suspected she also liked the actual work more than she liked her role as a manager.

Charlie and Balthazar were essentially nerds, just like Gabriel. Their office was decorated to reflect their interest. The walls were covered with posters, there were little trinkets of movies and series on every flat surface. Charlie had a funko pop of Hermione on her desk, which she talked to out loud.

Today was Balthazar's day off, so it was just Gabriel and Charlie supporting the whole company. Although they always managed to get through the work by the end of the day, those days were usually pretty tiring. Tickets came in constantly, usually they were easy enough to fix. Problems with VPN's that wouldn't connect, screens that wouldn't behave or emails that wouldn't send. Sometimes there were fun ones, and judging by the laugh Charlie let out, she found one of those. 

"I'm not sure what happened here, but this is a special one." She exclaimed. 

Gabriel swirled around in his desk chair to look at the ticket on Charlie's screens. "Special good or special bad?" He inquired before starting to read it. 

"Special special." She answered, moving out of the way. Someone, Sam Winchester apparently, said that whenever he'd open his email, a zombie appeared on screen to jump scare him instead. 

"I need to see this." Gabriel said. He knew Charlie wouldn't care to go to the legal department and even though he could probably fix it with a screen-share, he was to curious to find out what had happen. "Are you okay manning the fort for a little? I think I'm going to go up there."

"It's all the same to me, whether you fix it from here or go up there. It needs fixing either way." She reasoned. "But I'm not sure you want to go get yelled at. If I remember Sam correctly he's nice enough during meetings, but you know how those higher-ups can be." 

"That's why I'm going in person." He argued. "I can't think of anything more cathartic then seeing one of those three-piece suits, scared shitles by a zombie jumpscare." He hummed amused. Even if the guy was going to be a dick, the image would surely be worth it. 

There was a world of difference between the legal department and the IT-department. Where Gabriel was used to the small, musky room, the legal department had a large shared office spanning the fourth floor whole floor. Gabriel was most blinded as he stepped out of the elevator. The tall and broad windows that made up half of each wall provided a lot of natural light. There were plants on the filing cabinets and there was a large painting on one of the the walls. 

Gabriel looked around the space, searching for the head of the department. He quickly noted Sam's name on the door of the office in the corner. Immediately after he knocked, he got permission to enter. He didn't always use to bother with stuff like that, but after enough people had gotten angry at him, he decided it wasn't worth the trouble not to knock. 

As he walked in, he was caught up in the view. The office was bright as well, with two windowed walls looking out over a beautiful skyline. It was also larger than most managers had to make due with and Gabriel wondered if it might be larger than the room he shared with his two colleagues. 

"Sam Winchester?" Gabriel asked, still distracted by his surroundings. 

"What can I help you with." 

"I'm Gabriel, the IT guy... I'm here to fight the zombie." Gabriel couldn't help a slight grin at what he considered to be a very funny remark. The other laughed as well and the sound drew Gabriel's attention. The office looked impressive, but it was nothing compared to the guy manning it.

Gabriel had to make an effort not to let his eyes wander over the guy for too long. Every inch of him looked strong and confident, but he didn't seem intimidating, like most managers tried to be. If anything, he almost looked embarrassed. He rubbed the back of his neck as he got up. "I'm glad you were able to get up here so fast. I uh... I think I've got a virus or something."

"Let's see about that. It's certainly the most interesting ticket I've seen in months." Gabriel admitted. He looked up at Sam, trying to access whether or not he was in for a friendly chat. The man's eyes caught him off guard, the beautiful green reflexed in the sunlight, but then, as Gabriel walked closer to set up, they seemed hazel again.   
  
"Should I get you a chair, maybe something to drink?" Sam offered, already setting himself apart from most of the managers. They were usually just annoyed whenever someone from IT decided they needed to be in physical proximity instead of fixing the problem remotely from inside The Cave. 

"A chair would be nice." Gabriel agreed as he opened Outlook, only for a very vivid and gross jumpscare of a zombie to pop up before closing again. Even though he had been warned, he still jumped back at the image and the accompanied sound. The sound had been the most unexpected. 

Sam laughed. "Yeah, I jumped as well first time it happened." 

He offered Gabriel his own desk chair, offering to stand. Gabriel took the chair, now feeling even smaller as he sat down next to a giant. 

"Nothing wrong with a good scream if you ask me..." He smirked, then realized who he was trying to flirt with. Not only was this the head of one of the most valued departments of Morningstar Inc., it was also possibly the most clear cut example of a straight guy. If his suit, function, looks and soulcycle gym bag didn't scream out that he was into women, the desktop picture of him and presumably his girlfriend was a good indication as well. 

Luckily, Sam didn't seem to mind the comment. "How about I pretend like you didn't say that." He grinned, lifting an eyebrow. "Is there anything I can help you with.?"

Gabriel could think of quite a few things he wouldn't mind the other helping him with... "No, thank you." He answered instead before he started trouble shooting. 

As he ran a virus scanner Sam made some small talk. After the usual topics of traffic and the weather, Sam switched to something more work related. He complimented the IT team on the new roll out of their customer portal, and Gabriel was surprised to receive praise. He was impressed at how much Sam knew about the new features. It was probably best to just take the compliment with a nod and a smile, but he couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. Sam was the first person with actual power on an executive level that seemed interested in the programs the company used. 

He hummed, cassualy looking up from the screen with a confused face. "I'm surprised legal is happy with it."

"Why is that?" Sam asked with a slight frown.

Gabriel wondered if this guy was just playing dumb or if none of Charlie's warnings had actually made it to the boardroom. "Because of the security problems in the logging. We've done what we could with the options given, but with the way the current program functions there is no way to stop an average hacker from getting all our user data. I'm guessing that will lead to quite a few legal problems."

"This is the first I've heard of this."

"Charlie has been trying to get it on the meeting schedule ever since we started preparing for the roll out." Gabriel told him, finally looking up.

Sam looked back at him confused. Gabriel ignored him for a second as the virus scanner came back empty.

"How much of a risk is it exactly?" Sam asked after a short moment of silence. Gabriel listed all the problems they were currently facing with the software, all the while trying to solve the issue with Outlook.

Sam listen to Gabriel's explanation. Gabriel had thought these issues would be known to him, but the man seemed to be caught completely off guard. "It's a good thing you brought this to my attention. Maybe we should talk about it some more and you can show me some examples. I'll set up a meeting if that's okay." He offered. 

Gabriel nodded, surprise to see how willing Sam was to listen. "Sounds good. But first we need to get into your Outlook calendar again to schedule it." He laughed.

He found the problem a bit later after running the taks master. It wasn't a virus, it was a prank program made to look like Outlook. All the shortcuts to Outlook had been removed and replaced by this pranking software that played the jumpscare. 

It was still weird, but at least he now knew the cause. Gabriel told Sam, but also told him he had no idea where this came from. 

Sam started to laugh. "I think I know where it came from...." He admitted. "We have this thing, to make sure everyone locks their screens. Whenever a screen isn't locked, it gets messed with. Usually it's just email send to everyone in the department promising cake or changing the background to Shrek, but I'm guessing this is the next level. It's kind of a prank, but it ensures that people remember to lock their laptops, so sensitive information isn't just out in the open." 

Gabriel looked at him a bit surprised but laughed. "I'm guessing your cake isn't that great if they switched to this." He joked, making Sam laugh in return. 

"That would explain it. I think it's because I told them that I hate Halloween. They just wanted to scare me."   
  
Gabriel was glad Sam took it all so well and wasn't screaming and shouting at his staff for wasting his time. In fact, he apologized to Gabriel for wasting his time. Gabriel waved it away saying he was just doing his job, but also telling Sam that if he wanted to make it up to Gabriel he could include him next time there was cake. Sam nodded and smiled as Gabriel left. 

When Gabriel got back to the cave, Charlie looked at him with a curious smile. "That took a while... Did you fix it?" She asked straight away. 

Gabriel nodded. "It's not a virus. It was some prank. The guy left his laptop unlocked and someone from his team put it on there." He explained, grinning a little. 

Charlie quirked an eyebrow. "So, who's getting fired for that one?" 

"No one, the guy could laugh about it." Gabriel told her. 

"Sam's always been the most reasonable person during board meetings." She concluded as she turned back to face her screens. 

"Oh he was more than reasonable..." Gabriel smirked, making her spin right back around in her chair to face him. 

"Do tell..." She asked amused. 

Gabriel let himself fall back in his desk chair. "God Char, this guy was hot."

She grinned. "So, you're going to be called up more now...?" She teased, wiggling her eyebrows. 

"Yeah, no... He is like a model straight guy. He looks like he coaches his daughters soccer team in the weekends and mows the grass on Sundays."

"Gay guys can do that too." Charlie argued, but they both knew what Gabriel meant, this wasn't the kind of guy that moved away from the norm.

Gabriel shook his head. "Yeah, not that the pictures of his girlfriend would be the best sign either." 

  
"Oh right, her..." Charlie rolled her eyes. "Trust me, he'd be better off with you." 

Gabriel laughed as he got back to work. Sam might not be interested in him, but it was something to occupy his mind with. He had almost forgotten that Sam had been interested in hearing more about the verification systems, until he received and email alert. He smirked as he turned to Charlie. "Guess who's got a date..." 


	2. Chapter 2

Even though having a meeting with Sam was in itself very interesting, Gabriel knew there was a bigger purpose behind it. Charlie had been trying to schedule a meeting with the board of directors for a long time and she had gotten nowhere. This was probably their only shot to bring up the security risks in the current system and to promote the set up they'd been working on to replace it if they got the funding.  
  
At first Gabriel argued with Charlie that she would probably have more sway with Sam, due to her position as head of IT. But since Sam had scheduled the meeting with Gabriel specifically, Charlie insisted he should go. Gabriel had worked on the roll out, and he was the one that spotted the problem in the first place, so he had a right to present it according to Charlie. She did warn him to not get drool on his laptop while presenting their solution to Sam. He grinned, asking what other kind of fluids would be allowed which made her cringe and laugh at the same time.   
  
"If it doesn't end well I'm going to blame that horny mind of yours." She warned Gabriel. He shrugged laughing. "That's the only mind I've got." He countered. She made him promise not to try any moves on Sam, since they really needed this and Gabriel assured her he knew the importance of this going well.

The meeting was that Thursday, so he had two days to prepare. He hated how nervous he could feel himself getting to actually propose the plan the team had worked on. Balthazar and Charlie joked about it, thinking he was just nervous because it was Sam. That wasn't it though, he knew Sam was unavailable and besides those ridiculous looks and his kindness, there wasn't a lot he knew about him any way.   
Still he played along with their comments. If only it was the hot boss he was nervous about, instead of the idea of screwing up a plan he and his friends had worked hard for. 

When Thursday came around he had planned out the whole meeting and presentation. No matter how much Gabriel loved to joke around and have fun usually, he was passionate for his job and wanted to do well in the meeting. If he could do this well, he might be able to convince Sam to move forward with the project he and his team had been working on for months.   
They had scheduled a meeting for 2 pm, which meant he had to put an effort into keeping his good clothes stain free during lunch if he wanted to make a good impression. Instead of his usual ironic hoodies, he was wearing his fancy button up shirt. Of course Charlie and Balth teased him about it, but Charlie did take the time to thank him for putting in the effort. 

Gabriel got to the meeting room half an hour early, wanting to make sure everything was set up properly. When the meeting room door opened 5 minutes before the meeting would start, Gabriel looked up instantly. Sam looked at good as Gabriel remembered, and he started to realize that might have played into his nervousness as well.   
"You look fancy." Sam smiled as he sat down. Gabriel could feel the heat in his cheeks rising, but he refused to blush in front of Sam. "Yeah, I figured I should probably put some effort into impressing you." He grinned, trying to play it off casually. Sam chuckled at that. "I can't say I'm not flattered, but there's no need for that. I'm here for your plan no matter how you present it." 

"So I might as well do it naked?" It left Gabriel's mouth before he realized he even thought of the comeback. He was so used to throwing back witty remarks with Charlie and Balt. He couldn't just turn it off, even when he really should. His face contoured for a second, but he made sure to hold his grin, like he didn't regret the words. There was no glory in backpedaling after all. 

Apparently it worked, since Sam let out a loud laugh. "If anyone would walk in on that, we'd probably both lose our jobs." He grinned. Gabriel smirked, glad Sam could take a joke. 

"You need to meet Ruby." Sam told him. "I told her about this meeting and she didn't know who you were, but I'm sure once you guys meet you'll really hit it off. You have very similar humor." 

Gabriel smirked a little when he realized that Sam had apparently talked about him or at least about their project. He realized Ruby was probably Sam's girlfriend, but the name rung a bell. "Who's Ruby?" He asked.  
"My girlfriend, but she also works as a head of HR." Despite the slight disappointment Gabriel couldn't help but chuckle. "So you avoid problems with HR by dating HR...." He commented.   
"Something like that." He grinned. "We just started dating when she lost her job so I put in a good word for her." He explained. "What about you, does your partner do IT as well or something else?" He asked. 

Gabriel couldn't help but notice the way it was phrased. Either Sam was just a very inclusive person, not wanting to assume Gabriel was straight, or Gabriel's preferences were such common knowledge around the office people talked about him.   
He wouldn't be surprised if it was the last one, people liked to talk either way. But he guessed it was the first option since most didn't know him by name. It might also be a third option, Gabriel realized. Sam assumed he liked guys after Gabriel's attempts to flirt with him.  
"At the moment he doesn't even exist, let alone that he has a job." He answered casually. He wasn't ashamed of who he was so he didn't mind telling Sam, no matter all the people that had warned him not to be so open about his sexuality in an office setting, afraid it would hold him back. 

"Well it's a lot to work with your boy or girlfriend and live together as well. You should value your time alone." Sam commented. Gabriel knew it was meant as a joke, but Sam seemed to forget to laugh at the end of it. Gabriel grinned before the conversation could grow tense. "Oh, I'm making use of my single days..." He assured Sam with a glint in his eye. Sam chuckled. "As you should. Now how about we take a look at your presentation." He offered, turning to the projector on the wall. Gabriel nodded and explained the basis of their idea before getting into the practical use, the advantages and disadvantages. He was glad to see Sam take notes and to have him ask questions, meaning he was taking it seriously and not just indulging Gabriel. When Gabriel was finished Sam nodded. "This is amazing. I never realized the risk of a data breach we were facing."   
"Charlie did point it out." Gabriel said, then realized he shouldn't have been so snarky. Sam squinted before connecting the dots. "Oh Charlie Bradbury." He answered. "I've never really heard anything like this from her."   
That annoyed Gabriel. Of course Sam hadn't heard it, they were actively keeping her away from management meetings. "Yeah, I hadn't heard anything about you either. Doesn't mean there's nothing going on." He shot back. Sam took a moment to respond, looking baffled as Gabriel spoke out against him. "What is that supposed to mean?" He demanded. Gabriel rolled his eyes. He had probably fucked it up already by now. "That, just because you don't hear from someone, it doesn't mean they don't exist. It just means you're not listening." He said. "Charlie has been trying to pitch this for months and she's been blocked the whole way, so you can't be surprised you haven't heard from her."   
  
Gabriel was so certain Sam would get angry, and for a moment he could see the others fist clench and his breathing getting more rapid. He relaxed down again as he looked into Gabriel's eyes, who by now were surely showing the fear he felt over having insulted someone in Sam's position. Sam let out a deep sigh. "You are right. You told me she's been trying to speak with us. It's just, I'm surprised that people oppose that. Sure it's a slight inconvenience for the customers to put up with extra security measures. But imagine what legal battles we'd be in if we did have a massive data breach." He said. "They should have had her come and present way sooner."   
"Yeah, but I think they just don't like us. You are probably the first one in your position that hasn't cussed at me and the first to know my name. And I get that, I'm just one out of 500, but Charlie is responsible for keeping the operating system running at all hours and she's doing an amazing job, yet you guys barely know who she is."   
"You are not too shy with your thoughts are you?" Sam commented, seeming slightly amused. "But it's good that you're pointing this out. I'll have a talk with the board." He promised. He started packing his stuff, apologizing that he had to leave for the next meeting. Before actually leaving he looked at Gabriel and put a hand on his shoulder. " Also Gabriel, you shouldn't sell yourself short. You are not one in 500. You are special okay?"   
Gabriel was taken aback by that, sort of speechless. Sam looked so sincere into Gabriel's eyes, he could only nod. After Sam had already left the room he could regather his thoughts and return to the cave to tell the others the meeting seemed to be a success. He couldn't wait to tell Charlie about Sam's promise to put it up with the board. 


	3. Chapter 3

A week had gone by since the meeting and Gabriel hadn't heard from Sam since. Charlie had assured him these things just took time. Balthazar oppered that on Sam was probably joking about the plan with the board, since they'd never actually go through with anything IT pitched. Gabriel laughed along, but it did sting a little. He also wondered what had happened before Gabriel came to work that, that had made Balth so sceptical.

Gabriel wasn't sure what to think himself at this point. He hadn't really seen Sam around the office since the meeting. Then again, they had always moved in very different circles. The only place they would maybe meet was the cafeteria, and his team didn't really use the cafeteria like the others did. Gabriel usually had some food from home and used the IT snack supply if he got peckish. 

Gabriel was lost in thought when someone knocked on the door of The Cave. Usually a knock meant some intern or newbie had problems logging into the network and someone told them to ask IT. Other usually didn't knock. Thy send in a ticket and if they got t impacient and decided to come by themselfs, they woud just barge in.  
  
"It's open." Charlie announced. When the door opened Gabriel couldn't help the smile spreading on his face.   
"Hey Gabe, Charlie and..." Sam lingered as he looked at the other man  
"Balthazar." Balthazar filled in unimpressed. "And you are?" 

"Sam." Gabriel said, getting up from his desk chair. "Everything okay?" Sam nodded. "I just wanted to ask if any of you would like some cake?"  
Gabriel looked surprised. "Cake?"   
"Yeah, you told me you wanted to be included next time I brought cake." He said with a smile. He looked around the room, three pieces?" He cataloged.   
"Sounds great." Gabriel smiled and the others nodded. "Any news on the project yet?" 

Sam shook his head. "I'm going to pitch it tomorrow so we'll see what comes of it." He turned to Charlie. "Maybe it's best if you join, since it's about IT things. Would you be able to make it tomorrow around 2?" 

Charlie opened up her calendar before she nodded. "That would be great, thank you." There was skepticism in her voice, but you had to know her to notice.

"No need." Sam assured her, smiling obliviously. "I'll be right back with the cake."   
Sam walked out of the room. As soon as the door closed Gabriel could feel the other two staring at him. "What was that?" Charlie asked out loud. "How did you do that?"   
Gabriel shrugged. He wasn't sure how he managed to get them the opportunity Charlie had been dying to get, in addition to free cake. "I guess I'm just that charming..." He joked. Balthazar huffed. "Right..." He just said, rolling his eyes. "Charming..."  
  


Gabriel payed him no mind as Charlie grabbed his attention, asking to borrow the presentation Gabriel had made. "Maybe you should lead this..." Charlie asked him a bot unsure. Gabriel looked at her quizzically. "You're the IT manager... You were the one that decided this project would be worth the work. Wouldn't it look better if you were the one speaking with the board." He asked. Charlie sighed. "I don't know, maybe. It's just... Seeing how far you've gotten in a few days, plus, you've done most of the work on the product itself." Gabriel could see she was still doubting what to do. She bit her lip. "How about I sit in on the meeting tomorrow, since Sam asked me too. There I can tell them you're our product lead. That way they can decide which of us they want to talk to. Maybe they'll prefer talking with you." 

Gabriel snickered. "You really hate management meetings don't you?"   
"I got into this to learn some sweet coding, not to feel like an outcast around people in suits." She sighed. Gabriel wanted to respond, but there was another knock before Sam opened the door, balancing three plates of cake.   
He put the cakes on everyone's desks and stopped at Charlie's. 

"I'll shoot you an invite for tomorrow." He told her, looking a bit unsure of what to say after that. "Sorry it took a while." Apperently Gabriel's message had come through to him.   
Charlie smiled slightly, shaking her head. "No problem. Just so you know, Gabriel is going to take the lead on the project if the board agrees to develop."   
Gabriel couldn't help but focus in on Sam's face, only to find Sam staring straight back at him. "Perfect." He assure Gabriel. "We'll plan another meeting to discus further steps if tomorrow goes well."   
Gabriel nodded with a playful smirk. "Can't wait." He assured Sam, who grinned back at him, just as devilish, making Gabriel remember their banter.  
"Get a room." Balthazar interjected loudly, Him mouth still half filled with cake. Gabriel and Sam both laughed, but didn't answer. Sam turned back to Charlie. "You'll get the invite in a minute." 

"Thanks, and thank you for the cake." Charlie said, holding up the plate.  
Sam nodded. "No problem." He left The Cave again.   
  
As soon as the door clicked shut, Charlie turned in her chair to face Gabriel. "Okay, what is going on between you two?" She asked, crossing her arms as she looked excited. "If that wasn't flirting I don't know what was."   
Gabriel laughed out loud. "That's just some good natured teasing." He assured her. "As soon as something interesting happens I promise you'll be the first to know." He grinned. Of course, that was an empty promise. Nothing was going to happen. He knew Sam had a girlfriend and besides, Sam was a chill dude who actually listened to what Gabriel had to say. He wasn't going to ruin that by trying something, even if Sam wouldn't have been with Ruby. 

The rest of the afternoon was spend helping Charlie on the presentation in between solving some standard tickets and setting up some standard overnight updates. 

\--

The next day Charlie came in wearing a red jumpsuit with a tailored blazer. Gabriel whistled when she walked into The Cave, grinning as she struck an exaggerated pose. "I feel like I'm in a spy movie or something..." She said excited as she made a face. She was giddy most of the day until it came to 2 pm. Gabriel had sort of expected Sam to come by and walk Charlie to the meeting, but of course he didn't. He was probably already in the meeting.

When Charlie left both the boys had given her a thumbs up and she seemed to be genuinly happy she got to go and defend their project, no matter how much she hated talking to management. However when she returned, only half an hour later she came in without making eyecontact. After she slumped down in her deskchair she threw of her heels.

"What happened?" Balthazar asked after a short silence. Gabriel turned in his chair and saw the disappointment in Charlie's eyes as she looked up at him   
His voice was silent, as if not to disturb her any further. "Did they refuse the project?"   
Charlie shook her head. "Worse. They agreed to consider our plan. But they want to outsource the idea." She said before letting out a heavy sigh. "Remind me why I thought it was a good idea that I should talk to the board?"   
"Because you're the one in charge?" Balthazar oppered. Gabriel nodded. "They were probably planning this all along." He sighed.   
He took some Reese pieces out of his drawer to comfort Charlie who took them willingly. "It's just..." She took a bite from the candy before continuing. "They basically told me they don't believe we can do this unless we can come up with a complete plan in less then a month. And I'm not talking about the basics... several tests, user experience reports, a budget. Everything in a month." 

  
"So they won't outsource it if we make a plan and a working test environment." Gabriel reiterated, taking a lollipop out of the candy stash to suck on himself. "We've been working on it long enough to be able to do that."   
Charlie sighed. "Are you sure you want to put in that kind of effort? I told them I'd discus it with you since you're the project lead." 

Gabriel shrugged. Of course that would take a lot of work, it seemed almost impossible, but if they threw away this chance the company would be validated in their negative feelings toward the IT department. "We've gotten this far, might as well try it." 

"Plus." Balthazar said, wheeling over with his desk chair. "You'd be doing Gabriel a favor. That means he'll get to talk to that guy he has the hots for again." 

Gabriel hadn't even really though of Samafter seeing Charlie so down. But the though was in his head now. "How did Sam react to the decision."   
Charlie scoffed. "Well Ruby was the one who came up with it, so of course he completely supported her... It's like he follows whatever she says."   
Gabriel wasn't sure what to think of that. Sam had seemed so supportive of them in the last week. This really took him by surprise. After Charlie told tem exactly what she thought of each and everyone of those managers and they shared a few of their worst experiences in helping them their spirits were lifted. They decided to let the information settle, knowing there was nothing to do about it except build a test environment in that short time frame.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments and feedback. I always love people commenting on my work <3


	4. Chapter 4

Gabriel couldn't have been more surprised then when he got an email from Sam the day after the meeting, asking him to talk about the project during lunch. Apparently Sam didn't have any time in normal schedule to plan a proper meeting, or so he explained. Gabriel accepted the request after showing it to Charlie, agreeing to meet Sam in the canteen. 

When lunch rolled around Gabriel made his way to the company canteen. It was large and had sort of a restaurant feel to it. It was made up of a mix of long white tables for bigger groups and smaller ones for up to four people. On the side of the canteen was a large selection of overpriced sandwhiches, soups and salades.   
By the time Gabriel entered, there were already some groups of colleagues eating and talking, making the room as a whole quite noisy. Gabriel brought his own lunch, as he always did, so he thankfully didn't have to join the que of colleagues overpaying to eat something prepared. This however meant he stood around the entrance awkwardly glaring over the tables, hoping to spot Sam.  
  
He spend some time looking around before he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hey Gabe, sorry I'm late. My last meeting just didn't seem to stop." Sam was standing behind him holding a container and some cutlery. Apparently Sam wasn't one for cafeteria food either.  
Gabriel turned to smile at him and waved the apology away. "That's fine."   
He almost forgot that he shouldn't like Sam anymore, since the other screwed his team over. It was hard to remember as Gabriel looked Sam over. He somehow still seemed nice and excited to speak to Gabriel, even after what he had done.   
"Do you often have meetings during your break?" Gabriel asked, wondering if this was just an easy way to deal with the less important matters. Sam huffed a laugh. "I try not to, but there's only so many hours in the day. I thought it was important we'd start with the project as soon as possible."   
Gabriel wanted to ask what he meant by 'we', since Sam was the reason the project was most likely going to be outsourced. He didn't expect him to get involved anyway. His attention however was drawn to a familiar face waving hello.   
Gabriel had never met Ruby personally, but he recognized her from Sam's computer background. Sam waved back at her, then looked at Gabriel apologetically. "Do you mind if we sit with Ruby? She actually has some great ideas about the project and she was curious about meeting you, since the two of us are probably going to work together a lot this month." 

Gabriel bit back the comment he was about to make and instead nodded. He'd see how great the suggestions were of the woman that had decided this should probably be outsourced. "Yeah sure, sounds good." He agreed weakly. They walked over to her and she smiled wide. "You must be Gabriel, right?" She informed, holding out her hand to shake Gabriel's.   
She seemed nice enough, but Gabriel knew how deceiving that could be. Before he could answer her, she continued as she walked over to an empty table, obviously expecting the men to follow. "Sam told me about you. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost get jealous." To clarify she was only joking she ended with a wink. Gabriel smirked at that. "Good that you know better than, or I'd be in danger." He wasn't supposed to like this woman, he knew that. She was the one that brought up the one month trial in the first place. But Sam was right, they clicked instantly.   
Sam looked at his girlfriend nervously, but eventually let out a laugh. 

"Are you two done?" Sam asked with a nervous grin. He sat down next to Ruby, opposite to Gabriel. "I wanted to talk to you about the steps we have to take this month and time frame of development for the security project."   
That took Gabriel by surprise, it sounded like Sam wanted to legitimately continue with the plan, even though it seemed like it was dead in the water due to the meeting... Due to the plan Ruby oppered and Sam supported. He had expected this to be less of a meeting, and more an apology.   
Gabriel couldn't keep his mouth shut, something he suffered from a lot of the time. "Yeah, a month for a fully running test environment and a complete plan of action... I'd like to talk about that too." He told him, crossing his arms. "I thought you were on our side with this." Once he said it he realized he had no real reason to assume that. Sam had obviously cared for the impact the plan would have on the company . He didn't care about Gabriel himself. Outsourcing meant he'd have to be less hands on. Since Sam was already short on time, outsourcing the project would be better for Sam, which was why this switch made even less sense.  
  
Sam looked at him baffled. "Of course I am... Why else do you think I backed the idea of making it inhouse."   
"You call that backing the idea... We have an impossible deadline because of you." Gabriel made sure to glare at Ruby as well Sam as he made his point. He didn't care that it was inappropriate, Sam was acting like he hadn't put this pressure on him.   
Ruby let out a loud laugh. She made sure to wrap an arm around Sam's arm, playing with the sleeve of his suit as she eyed Gabriel. "You were right." She told Sam. "He really doesn't hold back." 

Gabriel wanted to comment on the way they talked about him like he wasn't there, but before he could, Ruby explained herself. "I get that the deadline is short Gabriel. But that's the best deal we could probably get. I know three other members of the board, including the CEO only wanted to go along with this if we could outsource it cheaply. That's why I convinced them to give you a month. This way it would only cost some overtime at the it department." She pulled Sam a little closer in the grip she had on him. "Sam made me realize how important it was that the IT department develops it, since we need the flexibility. Like I said, he was very enthusiastic." Her lip curled up as she said the words. 

Gabriel huffed. "So this was to help us?" He looked at Sam, trying to keep a cool posture as he studied the other intently. He was never really one for the political games they played at the top. Had he really missed something so vital.

"Of course." Sam answered, squinting back at him.   
Ruby grinned, squeezing Sam's arm. "I don't think Gabriel sees it that way." The look between the two men broke when Gabriel took his time to stare Ruby down. Now that he was a bit more calm, he had time to be bothered by the blatant show of affection by Ruby touching Sam. It might just be a hint of jealousy that made him bothered, but there was something about the way Ruby looked at Gabriel as she did it, that itched at the back of his head.  
"I get that there was an effort, but I'm not going to thank you for putting it on us to build a working test environment in a month." He said, crossing his arms.

Ruby grinned. "Good, cause I didn't do it for a thank you. I did it because Sam was excited to do this in house and I trust his judgement. Even if that means he'll have to spend a lot of late nights at the office."  
Gabriel couldn't really argue with that, and it did feel nice to know Sam wanted his team to do this after his presentation. Still he couldn't let go of gut feeling that Ruby had ulterior motives for setting it up like this. He smiled at her and focused on Sam again. "Okay, so how are we going to pull this off, especially with you being mister popular around here..."

Sam nodded, chewing on a bit of salad as he pointed his fork at Gabriel. "That's what I wanted to discus. I was wondering if you'd mind working late for a little while. Ruby and I discussed it and the hours would be cleared with HR for paid overtime. We could look over the proposal and the different possible strategies. There are still a few things in your briefings unclear."  
Gabriel thought about the idea of making overtime in order to finish the project. It wasn't like there was someone waiting for him at home except his cats and the extra hours would be a nice bonus.   
"Sure." He agreed. "Whenever works for you."   
Ruby smiled brightly. "Oh that's great. Babe, how about the two of you start tonight?" She offered enthusiastically.   
Sam looked a bit confused, then something clicked and he nodded. "Right, you have that seminar anyway, so that's perfect." He turned to Gabriel. "As long as that's okay by you."   
Gabriel wasn't going to admit he had nothing planned anyway. "I'll cancel my million dates and make time for you Samuel." He grinned.   
Sam smirked. "Poor guys." As soon as he said it, there was a fear showing in his eyes. He was probably afraid he had outed Gabriel, but Gabriel would never make a secret of who he was. He shot Sam a smile, as if to say it was okay.   
Ruby lifted an eyebrow, but laughed along. "Great, it's a date. Don't worry about how late you get home." She got up as she spoke. "Just text on the way home so I know it's you coming through the door." She asked before giving Sam a quick peck on the lips. "I've got to run, I'm interviewing for an intern in five." She announced. "It was nice to meet you." She told Gabriel who nodded.   
"Likewise." He told her with a smile. He could see what Sam saw in her. She had humor and she objectively looked good. If Gabriel would be into women, that would probably be the kind of women he'd try to date.

Now he was left alone with Sam to plan their evening. "My last meeting ends at half past six." Sam told Gabriel. "Would you be able to come to my office afterwards. I'm going to say we need to sit for at least an hour or two to really set up our base plan. Then once we've got that, I was thinking we could focus on the requirements next time." 

When Gabriel got back to The Cave, Charlie and Balthazar looked intrigued. "So how was your date?" Balthazar asked. "Screwed your way up to management yet?"  
Gabriel laughed. "Working on it."   
Charlie rolled her eyes. "Has he explained why he stabbed us in the back like that?"   
Gabriel shook his head. "He didn't. According to him, this was the only way we could keep it 'in house'." He explained. "I met his girlfriend by the way."   
"Oh right, Ruby. I don't like her." Charlie told him, not trying to brush over it.   
Gabriel looked a bit unsure. "Why not? She seems nice enough."   
"She always seems to have something to hide." Charlie explained. "And she never allows me to expand our team. She doesn't seem to see any value in IT whatsoever."  
"Apparently she does. As long as Sam sees the value of it. She isn't as bad as she seems." Gabriel assured her. "Anyway I have a meeting with Sam after work to discuss some things." 

Balthazar snickered. "Right... You are getting pretty close with that guy, aren't you?" He teased.   
Gabriel laughed "Getting jealous Balth?"   
"You wish." Balthazar smirked in response. "You have fun on your little man date... Don't forget about us from the luxury of a corner office."   
"I try to forget about you the moment I leave the room." He shot back.   
Balthazar laughed. "You know you love me."   
"I'd love you to shut up." Gabriel corrected him before getting back to work.   



	5. Chapter 5

Gabriel could feel nerves bubbling up on his elevator ride to the fifth floor. Sam had told him he was done with his last meeting at 5:30, but Gabriel decided to go up early. It was no secret that everyone, except for Sam apparently, left early on fridays to go enjoy the weekend. The whole legal department was close to empty. When he got to Sam's office and knocked there was no answer.   
He wondered if Sam had forgotten about their meeting and had instead headed home already. He knew it was irrational. Sam had told him he'd be there after the meeting, which was probably just still going on.   
Gabriel decided to wait for Sam at the desk closest to his office to see when he'd come back. He took out his laptop, deciding to look over the original presentation once again. 

  
He suddenly got distracted by the sound of familiar laughter. "I took care of everything this month." A female voice said from the hallway.   
Gabriel looked up from his laptop, looking to see who was walking into the otherwise abandoned department.   
"He'll have his hands f- Oh hey Gabriel."   
Gabriel turned to look in the direction of the voice. Ruby and Lucifer Morningstar walked into the office. Ruby's face was mix of surprise and something Gabriel could not read. "You're a bit early, aren't you?"   
Gabriel gave her a small nod and smile. "Yeah." He muttered before dismissing the two and instead focussing back on his work. Even if he was on good terms with Ruby, he still couldn't stand the CEO, Lucifer Morningstar. He was the sort of guy that always made sure to make negative taunting comments about IT when he put in a ticket. He was such an asshole the team had decided to put up a wager and the loser had to take care of all of Lucifer's tickets for the whole year. 

He was surprised to see the two approaching him after the little interaction. When he looked up again Lucifer was suddenly standing in front of him. He had his chest puffed out as he made himself look bigger and more threatening as he looked over Gabriel and extended his hand, like they hadn't met before. "Lucifer Morningstar."   
Gabriel bit back some of the snarkier comments he wanted to make. This wasn't Sam, who laughed at Gabriel's remarks. Even the more critical ones. Insulting Lucifer meant trouble. Of course, keeping completely quiet also didn't sit right. "Nice to see you, again." He put some emphasis on the last word. Lucifer lifted his eyebrows. A small sense of amusement played on his lips before full out smirking at Lucifer.  
He felt a small sense of pity for Balthazar, who had lost the wager and had been the person to help Lucifer for the past few months. 

  
Ruby nodded at Lucifer. "This is Gabriel. He'll be leading the project Sam will be working on." Lucifers' smirk grew at that. "Oh, so you are the genius behind this all. Good to finally meet you, I've heard great things." Lucifer continued not recognizing the fact they had met before, almost making Gabriel doubt himself.   
  
It felt weird, how different he was treated now that Sam recognized him and helped bring his idea forward. People started to act like he mattered. He didn't care for the feeling all too much, since he had seen their initial reaction to him as well, and it left much to be desired. Their little talk was interrupted by Sam, eying Lucifer and Ruby before looking at Gabriel. He gave Gabriel a little smile he didn't afford the other two, then told him "I'll be in my office when you're ready, Gabe." 

He looked at Ruby once more before walking into the office and closing the door behind him.  
Gabriel gathered his things. He was curious about what had just happened. But more than anything, grateful to be able to leave the awkward encounter. "Nice to see both of you, again." He reiterated. He looked at Ruby. "Good luck with your seminar."   
Ruby squinted at him before she smiled. "Thanks. Have a good night. Make sure to take care of my Sammy a bit. He really overworks himself." She added before continuing over to the filing cabinets. 

Gabriel stood there for a few seconds, before reminding himself why he was there in the first place. He didn't bother knocking, but just walked straight into Sam's office. Sam was smiling, but Gabriel couldn't look past the way his eyes didn't match the picture.   
"How was the meeting?" Gabriel asked.   
Sam huffed, shaking his head. "pretty standard..."   
"Then why do you look like you just found out the finale of your favorite show sucked?"   
Sam squinted. "What? I'm just tired." Sam waved off, trying not to look as grumpy as he had been looking.  
Gabriel put up his hands. "Sure, if that's what you want to go with, I'll play along..."   
Sam sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just been a long day filled with useless meetings. But that doesn't matter, we are here for your project."   
Gabriel bit his lip. Sam didn't seem to be in the mood for another 'pointless meeting'. "We could reschedule..." He suggested.   
Sam shook his head. "I'd rather not. I've actually been looking forward to this. I used to lead a lot of project, but now I don't really get a chance to get as involved. It'll be nice to get in some ground work again." 

Gabriel was grateful that he didn't have to spend his evening with a grumpy Sam. He opened his laptop again, the code from the old roll-out still opened. "Well let's get to it. I through I could start with reworking the old code." He turned his laptop to show Sam the program they had written so far.   
Sam nodded, letting out a small laugh. "Yeah, that's not my field at all, so I have no idea. But I'd love to learn a bit about it before we start." He admitted. He pulled his desk chair back. It was a broad leather desk chair. Far more comfortable than the plastic and fabric ones everyone else used. "Here sit down, I'll get in another chair and you can try explaining this to me." He said, rushing out of the office. He came in wheeling in one of the normal desk chairs and put it next to Gabriel, before sitting down. 

Gabriel connected his laptop to the docking station and the screens on Sam's desk sprang to life. Sam wheeled in a little closer. Even sitting down, the man was a lot larger than him. He could feel him looming over his shoulder, leaning in to see the words written on screen better.  
  
When Gabriel was busy explaining the logic behind the queries on screen they were interrupted by a knock on Sam's office door. Sam moved back a little and Gabriel almost got a feeling of being caught, even though they were doing nothing wrong. 

A sweet older looking woman, wearing a white apron informed them that the cleaners were about to start the deep clean and that they had to leave since they had to put something on the carpets to prepare for the spring cleaning weekend.   
Sam sighed as he rubbed his temple. "Oh god, I completely forgot. Sorry Maria, well get out of your hair."   
The woman, Maria, smiled, shaking her head. "I expected you to forget. Don't worry, we haven't started on this floor yet, you can still get out." 

Sam smiled. "Thanks, we'll make our way out in a sec. Can you give us five minutes to pack?"   
The woman nodded. "I'll be counting." She warned with a big grin before closing the office door again.  
  
Gabriel looked at Sam over his shoulder. He wasn't sure what was going on, all he understood was that they had to cut their meeting short.   
Sam now moved away from him completely to start packing as he explained. "Maria started working here when I did. Since I always work late we see each other a lot. Every three months they have a weekend where they clean everything they don't get to during the week. They make some preparations on fridays and I'm usually one of the only ones that works late, so she always tries to remind me beforehand, but I always forget." He laughed, rubbing his neck. "I really hoped we could have gotten started on this."   
"How about we continue via zoom?"  
"Sounds good..." Sam agreed, then his eyes lit up. "Actually, if you want we can work at it in my apartment if you'd rather continue in person."   
Gabriel had to make sure he wouldn't show too much enthusiasm at the prospect. Despite being quite outgoing when he was comfortable, Gabriel wasn't really the sort of person that had a lot of friends. Ever since he moved to the city he had spend a few nights out with Charlie and Balthazar, but nothing more than that. 

He knew this wasn't friendship perse, but he looked forward to not spending his evening alone. "Yeah sure." Gabriel agreed. They left the building after Sam thanked Maria for waiting for him. At the parking lot, Sam walked over to his car. A light blue electric Dodge Challenger.   
"If you want you can just follow me." Sam offered. "Where are you parked?"  
Gabriel shook his head. "I usually take the bus."   
"Oh then get in, I'll drop you off at home when we're done." He promised as he unplugged his car from the loading station.   
"Thanks." Gabriel got into the passenger seat. This was definitely better than taking the bus. 

Sam got into the car as well, giving Gabriel a little smile before he started the engine. "If we want we can stop by this little place on my street that sells amazing noodles." He suggested. "You probably still need to eat as well, right?"   
"Sounds like a plan." Gabriel agreed. 

It was about a twenty minute drive to get to Sam's place.They talked a bit about their hobbies. Gabriel wasn't surprised to learn that Sam liked to work out. It was a nice surprise to hear he used to like gaming. They talked about their favorite old school games for a little while. When Gabriel asked him why he stopped gaming Sam didn't answer straight away. He was suddenly very focused on the road ahead.  
After a few moment of silence, he settled on "It didn't really fit into my life anymore." 

He quickly changed the subject back to Gabriel. "So any other hobbies?"  
Gabriel decided not to comment on Sam's behaviour, instead he started talking about how much he loved to curl up on the couch with his cats. Sam looked at him from the corner of his eyes. Gabriel looked over as well, seeing how excited Sam looked. "You have cats?"   
"Three: Socks, Mittens and Beanie." Gabriel answered.   
Sam chuckled at the names before asking Gabriel about how he got them. 

When Sam pulled into the parking garage of a large apartment complex, Gabriel was still talking about how Beanie had once tried to steal op open jar of beets that Gabriel had left on the counter, only to be covered in pink splashes for weeks.   
Gabriel had been so preoccupied by the story, he barely realized they had arrived until he noticed the switch between the natural light and the garage lighting. 

Sam put his car on the loading dock after getting out. which gave Gabriel ample time to look around. The place was packed with Tesla's, BMW's and Audi's. When they walked outside he could see why.   
The building looked like it was grabbed out of a futuristic movie. It was at least ten stories high, with windows covering a good part of the building and vertical gardens covering everything that wasn't glass. 

It must have been obvious that Gabriel was impressed, since Sam proudly proclaimed. "I know. Amazing right." He sighed happily. He turned to lead the way to the restaurant at the end of the street. Gabriel followed as he listened to Sam talking about when he found the place.   
"It was still in development 5 years ago, when I was looking to buy my own place for the first time." He explained. "But after seeing the architects sketches, I knew this was the place for me, even if I had to wait a year before I could move in." He explained. "It's almost completely self sustaining, there's a vegetable garden on the roof and it has a gym for all occupants."

Gabriel didn't care that much about the building, but he liked seeing Sam excited. "So you bought the apartment before it was even built."  
"It's a good thing I did. By the time I could move in I had just met Ruby. She was less than excited about the place at first, but luckily she came to love it as well."   
Gabriel smiled, glancing back at the building. "Why didn't she like it at first?"   
Sam shrugged. "She could never really put a finger on why, but she kept telling me I had made a mistake buying the place."  
Gabriel looked at him curiously. Sam seemed so proud of his apartment, it was almost endearing. 

They stopped at the restaurant at the end on the street. It was a small and basic looking take out counter. Sam seemed to be friendly with the guy working the register. After they both place their order Sam let out a little gasp as he grabbed for his phone.   
Gabriel thought something had happened by the sudden motion.   
When Sam noticed Gabriel's panicked eyes he gave an awkward smile that was probably meant to be reassuring.   
"Sorry." He said, not looking at Gabriel. "I just realized I forgot to text Ruby..." He said as he typed something on his phone. "I mean, she's probably still at the seminar anyway. It's just in case it's canceled or she left early... She doesn't like it when I come home early unannounced." He said, seeming a lot calmer after sending the text.

Gabriel didn't say a word, but apparently his expression conveyed enough. 

"I know it sounds a bit odd, but she just has this anxiety about someone breaking in while she's home. I don't want to needlessly scare her." Sam explained. 

Gabriel was surprised at that. Ruby didn't seem like the sort of person that was easily scared by anything, but then again, everyone could have anxieties. Sam let out a small sigh. "I think she was looking forward to spending an evening alone after her seminar. Like I said, living and working together will do that to you." 

"I'm sure it has it upsides too." Gabriel tried with a wiggle of his eyebrows. It wasn't his favorite topic in the world, but he didn't like seeing Sam this somber. Sam let out a laugh. "Something tells me you want to hear about those upsides." He said, lifting an eyebrow. Gabriel couldn't help but notice the tinge of pink that colored Sam's cheek as he said it.  
  
Gabriel was grateful to hear their order being called, cutting the conversation short and allowing Gabriel to not dwell on the fact that Sam seemed to know Gabriel thought he was atractive.  
Once they grabbed their order they started walking back towards Sam's building. It really was impressive when you looked at it. Especially with a red and orange horizon reflected in the window covered building. 

Sam changed the subject back to the project and the their plan for the day and Gabriel was more than grateful to switch to the subject until they reached the building again. Sam led Gabriel to the elevator. Sam lived on the fourteenth floor and Gabriel was suddenly very grateful he wasn't scared of heights. The elevator was made out of glass on the outside of the building, and Gabriel could see the world beneath them getting smaller. 

once they reached the right floor, Sam opened the second door on the left hand side of the hallway to let Gabriel in.   
Gabriel stepped into the large livingroom. He couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed. The apartment was massive, with an open kitchen to the right and a lounge set to the left. Just like in Sam's office, one of the walls was made entirely out of glass.   
Because of the floor level, this meant Gabriel could look over the whole city. While Gabriel was distracted by the view, Sam made his way to the kitchen. "Can I get you anything to drink?" He asked. "We've got-" He stopped talking mid sentence, letting out a strangled sigh. "Gabriel turned around to see him holding one of the two empty wine glasses on the counter. They were still stained red, with slight residue on the bottom. Sam twirled one of the glasses, the residue staining the glass further. 

Gabriel made his way over. "Everything okay?" he asked.   
Sam looked at him, confused for a moment and Gabriel could swear Sam had forgotten he was even there. Then he smiled the concern away, nodding absentmindedly. "Yeah. We must have forgotten to clean these up last time we had wine." He said, finnaly looking at Gabriel again. "You know how it is with dishwasser unfriendly stuff." 

He put the glass back on the counter, shaking hs head before smiling again. "Now what can I get you?" 

Sam poured both of them a drink and put them on the kitchen table with the noodles they had gotten. "How about we start making a timeline for the project?" He offered, getting out his laptop on the table. "I was thinking, we can spend about 14 hours a week on development. Ruby can approve 2 hours of paid over time a day if you are up for it, and you'll have to cut in 4 hour extra during your normal shift, so the IT team might have to work a little harder this month. 

"Two hours a day?" Gabriel asked. He could really use that money, and two hours a day didn't seem to be that much. 

Sam nodded. "We can meet every day at my office if you want. Get some dinner and work on the project. I'm pretty sure Ruby won't mind, right. I mean she's the one that came up with this whole thing." He said, like he was answering a question Gabriel was sure to raise.  
Gabriel squinted before agreeing. "Sounds like a plan." 

They spend the rest of the evening working on the plan. Ruby got home around 9 and Gabriel took that as his que to leave. True to his word, Sam drove him home. He was grateful for it, since the journey was twenty minutes by car, but over an hour with public transport. When they got to his street, Gabriel turned to Sam. "Thanks again for the opportunity and all." He said, his voice a bit softer than it usually was.   
Sam smiled. "No need to thank me. I really like working on the project. Besides, Your work deserves to be recognized. You really know what you're doing and it's sad to see that not be as appreciated as it should be." He parked the car.   
"I'll see you again on monday? half past five in my office?" He asked. Gabriel nodded. "See you than, Sam." He said, getting out of the car and waving to Sam quickly before making his way over to the front door of his little house. 


	6. Chapter 6

When Gabriel got to work that monday, he noticed how much cleaner the whole building was, from the entrance hall, right up to the hallway leading to The Cave. The air smelled of lemon, which he couldn't help but smile about. He had never really noticed the changes after the big clean ups. But now that he knew and he payed a little attention, they were pretty hard to ignore.  
Maybe it was just that he usually didn't pay any attention to the place he worked, apart from his own little space. After all, why would he, this wasn't a place he particuly liked to be in.   
It might also be that he usually started later in the day, when loads of people had already dirtied the place up again.   
  
The IT helpdesk opened at eight, and there was no way Gabriel was getting to work early. The moment he logged in was usually the moment the complaints started rolling in, so he made sure to delay that moment as long as he could.   
It was a good thing he used his own laptop to work on the project. His work laptop was too slow to work on comfortably, since the IT department had to use some pretty intense programs to operate, but there was no real budget to buy equiptment that could accommodate that. 

When Gabriel got to The Cave, he opened up his laptop to continue work on the project. He honestly didn't even mind coming in earlier, if it was for something like this. He never realized how much he actually disliked his job until he found something he did like. He had even worked on the project during the weekend, and he knew he needed some of the notes he had left on his desk to finish up what he had build so far.  
  
When the door opened again, about half an hour later, Charlie walked through. She gasped when she saw someone already in The Cave, before she started laughing. "What are you doing here, you scared the bejesus out of me!" She said. "It's a quarter to eight..." 

"Yeah... I thought I could get started on the project a little earlier." Gabriel explained. "It's going to take a lot of time and I know we can't really miss the hours here so, everything I can do outside of work helps." He shrugged.   
Charlie smiled wide. "Look at you, being mister responsible!" She was glowing. Gabriel rolled his eyes. He knew he had never really been the participating type. It was easier to stay on the sidelines and let everything play out the way it did as he kept his head down and played his part. 

That was what he liked about his team in the first place, it wasn't complicated. It might not always be the most rewarding work they were doing, but at least there was no fighting, no backstabbing. Just a save cave in the middle of a busy office.   
And Gabriel liked that safety. At least until he started working with Sam. He could just feel himself getting dragged into office politics, but he was to invested in the project to pull back out. 

It did feel good in a way, to care about something he was working on and to be proud of his work again. 

"I thought I'd give it a try." Gabriel answered. "Hey, can you maybe look at this for a second. It's supposed to block any account that says their password is found within these databases, but it keeps blocking everything."   
Charlie leaned over him. She had always been good at unraveling code. It took her less than a minute to point out the fault in Gabriel's logic gate. Gabriel sighed. "Of course... Thanks."   
  
"Don't worry about it, it must be difficult to read with hearts in your eyes." She grinned. Gabriel gave her a confused look.  
"Oh come on." She grinned with a tease. "I wouldn't be able to concentrate on writing code if Princess Leia was right across from me. Sam might not be that level, but you know what I mean. Sharing a tight office space with a dreamy guy, who is also a very bad idea... Who can focus when faced with that?"   
Gabriel rolled his eyes but let out a chuckle. "We didn't just share an office space." Gabriel said, purposefully vague. 

Charlie's eyebrows rose. "What did you do?" She asked, slapping his shoulder.  
Gabriel grinned. "Well, he took me home and you know what happens there..." He could see Charlie's eyes grow wide, and he loved messing with her like that.   
"We worked on the project." He grinned at her as she sighed.   
"Seriously, that's it?" She asked, amused.   
Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Of course that's it. He has a girlfriend. I'm bad, but I'm not like that." He said. "Besides, come on, have you seen him. Way out of my league." He reminded her.   
She sighed. "You're right about the girlfriend, but I do think you are selling yourself short. He looks at you in this weird way... Pretty sure you'd have a shot if he wasn't with someone." She said.   
Gabriel shrugged. He didn't believe her, but the idea was nice enough. "Doesn't matter, because he _is_ with someone. And if I'm honest, I'm more than okay with just hanging out."

"Okay good." Charlie said. "Maybe that's better either way, I mean, Sam seems like an okay dude, but that girlfriend of his... There is something off about her."   
"Shouldn't I be the one with the jealousy driven conspiracy theories?" Gabriel lifted an eyebrow, with a smirk still playing on his face. 

Charlie rolled her eyes. "I'm just telling you to be careful. I know it's all just a big game to you, but if there is one thing I've learned from being part of management, it's that you don't want any of the corporate assholes against you, if you can help it."   
Gabriel knew she was just looking out for him, but he couldn't help but laugh. "I'm pretty sure Ruby doesn't think I'm going to fuck her boyfriend."   
At that moment, the door opened again and Balthazar walked in, looking as grumpy as he did every morning. "Are you talking about Gabriel's boytoy again?" He asked as he took place behind his desk. "So have you two fucked yet?"   
"Why, jealous?" Gabriel shot back.   
Balthazar rolled his eyes. "You wish. I've got my own strings to pull..."  
Charlie grinned. "Oh do tell, whose strings are you pulling this time?"   
"Unlike Gabriel, I know how to be discreet about the pleasures in life."   
"You're no fun." Charlie told him as she turned to look at her screen. 

With that, the conversation stopped again as they all started working on the tickets that had piled up over the weekend. They day seemed to tick by slowly until it was time for Gabriel to go up to Sam's office.

Gabriel went to Sam's office every day after work. Not only did he enjoy working with Sam, he also enjoyed the challenge of the work itself. They now kept to the office to work, ordering in food to eat at Sam's desk as they pondered over their own respective problems or talked about their life.   
Gabriel learned that Sam was quite the nerd himself, even if it didn't show on the surface. He understood most of Gabriel's older references and threw references back at him. They had even already agreed to watch the new Marvel movie together after work some time and had planned Sam would come over to Gabriel's some day to game again. They were vague promises, and easily forgotten, but Gabriel was happy that their interests aligned so much.

It was thursday on the second week when Sam suggested going to his house again. He wanted to get noodles from the place near his house. Since the place didn't deliver, they would have to drive there. And if they were already there, why not finish up at Sam's home. Gabriel couldn't argue with that. He quite liked the idea.  
Sam happily mentioned that Ruby would be there too, so he could join them for dinner, maybe she even had some input in the project.   
  
When they were on their way back from the noodle place, walking to Sam's apartment, Sam suddenly remembered to text Ruby. "Whenever I'm with you, I always forget to text beforehand." He said. "I hope she sees it on time so we don't scared her."

Gabriel nodded. He had grown quite fond of his time with Sam in the past few days. He wouldn't mind getting closer to Ruby. She was important to Sam, and in all honesty she had worked hard for the project to come to fruition as well.   
Even if Charlie thought she was kind of suspicious, she had been nice enough to Gabriel and they shared the same sense of humor. Gabriel did consider Sam to be a friend by now, so of course he wanted to get to know his girlfriend better.   
He had also noticed that Sam talked less about her now that Sam had been spending a little time extra at the office each day. Apparently, the two didn't see each other that much during the week anymore. Ruby was also working on a project that month, which meant she went to work earlier, and went home earlier as well, so their time together was limited.

When they got to the apartment, Sam opened the door again to let Gabriel in first. At the dinner table sat Ruby and Lucifer, both of their faces tinged red as they stared at their perspective laptops. Sam seemed to be just as confused as Gabriel was.   
Ruby got up, walking over and kissing Sam's cheek as she held Sam's arm. "Hey babe, Luci and I decided to work on the project here for a little bit." She explained. Gabriel looked at the half empty bottle of red wine that was on the table between them.   
Lucifer was not wearing the tie he usually wore and Ruby's hair seemed a mess. Gabriel eyed the woman, but didn't comment on it. She looked back at him narrowing her eyes, before kissing Sam's cheek again. She turned to Lucifer. "Luci, I think we are pretty much done for tonight, right? I'll see you tomorrow morning." Her voice was sweet, like it was dripping in honey.   
All the color in Sam's face drained, but he didn't say anything. He just looked at the other man.   
Just when the tension got to high for anyone's comfort Sam spoke. "I didn't know you were involved in the redistributing of roles." He said, his voice had a sharp edge to it. Gabriel might not know much about management, but he knew Lucifer's portfolio had nothing to do with the accusatory tone Sam took.   
Lucifer stood up, a smirk plastered on his face as he made his way over, seeming not affected by the harshness in Sam's voice. "Of course, Sam. I'm the big boss remember, so I have a say in who is assigned what."

Gabriel couldn't help but feel like there was a clear threat in those words. Sam seemed to notice as well. "Of course." He said, reluctantly accepting the words. "Well Gabe and I still need to eat so are you staying or going?"   
"Oh, I'll leave. I wouldn't dare interfering on you and your little pet... Project." He said, grinning at Gabriel as he paused within the word. Ruby just smirked behind her hand, but Gabriel knew he was meant to see it. There was something about the way she was acting that made Gabriel nervous. Like it was all a big play and she was the lead actress.  
  


Lucifer wasn't completely done it seemed. He turned to Gabriel. Gabriel could tell that Lucifer purposely made himself big again, like he had done in the office. Even though Gabriel could see right through him, it still affected him, making him feel smaller already. "Oh Gabriel... Remind Balthazar to come check out my laptop tomorrow, just tell him I need another fix." Lucifer smirked and Gabriel had to work hard not to punch him in that arrogant face.   
"Will do." He forced out instead. Charlie's words were still playing in his head. 'Don't turn the corporate assholes against you'. 

Gabriel was glad that Lucifer left quickly. Ruby stepped away from Sam a little, once the door behind them shut with Lucifer on the other side. She turned to face him. "I hadn't expected you home so early, you could have let me know. I know you don't like Luci all that much, I wouldn't have invited him to come over. We just decided if would be easier to work from here," Gabriel caught her glare. She looked as amused as she looked furious, but her voice was still the same soft tone. "Just like you and Gabriel did, again."   
Sam looked at her, his face expressionless. "Sure." He simply said, walking passed Ruby and sitting down at the table. "Well, me and Gabe are going to work here for a little while, unless you mind that." He added in a cold tone. 

Ruby shook her head, ignoring the blatant hostility in Sam's voice. She dropped down on the couch. "I'll just read for a little if you two are going to work. Unless you mind me being here?" She added, narrowing her eyes. Gabriel could feel her scanning him.   
"Not at all."   
  
Gabriel sensed something was going on that wasn't about him, but he also felt like it was.   
"I need to go home early anyway." He said, without any real forthought on why that would be the case.   
"Oh?" Sam asked. Gabriel was lying through his teeth, but he didn't feel like being in the centre of a conflict for longer than he had to be.   
"Yeah, I've got a date. I assumed we'd been done pretty quick. We're grabbing a drink at around eight. I can easily make it afterwards, but I am in a slight hurry."  
It wasn't his best lie, but it wasn't the worst either. At least this way he could get out of Sam's hair and Ruby's kill range.   
"Yeah that's no problem." Sam told him with a little nod.

Sam cleaned up both the glasses of wine Ruby and Lucifer had left behind. He poured Gabriel a soda and himself a glass of water.   
Gabriel watched him as he moved. It was weird, seeing Sam like this. He was usually quick with a laugh and overall confident, but Ruby seemed to have some sort of power over him that made him act like he was smaller. Even though she was just reading through her book, her presence couldn't be ignored.   
Gabriel and Sam didn't really talk during dinner either, instead they both worked on their side of the project in peace.   
Gabriel missed the interruptions of Sam suddenly showing him some case law, or active litigation. He had grown quite fond of Sam's quirks.   
He also had to hold himself back to not ask Sam what he thought about certain queries, or explain to him what he had just programmed. Sam might not be knowledgeable on coding as a whole, but he had the initial logic down cold and he was willing to learn about the actual language. It made him quite a good sparring partner.   
  


Working in silence, with unspoken tension made Gabriel uncomfortable. As soon as it was seven thirty he got up. "Sorry, I really need to leave now if I don't want to be late." Other nights he and Sam would usually work way passed the two hours that were alotted for the project. They had reached 9 pm twice already.   
Sam didn't say anything as Gabriel gathered his stuff. Ruby looked up from over her book. "Already? I thought you and Sam were usually at it a lot longer." She asked, her eyes still like daggers.   
Gabriel looked at her for a second, wondering why she was suddenly so hostile to him. "Like I said, I've got a date."   
"Oh right." She said slowly. "Well have fun with that then. I'm sure I'll see you around."

Sam only seemed to acknowledge Gabriel leaving when he hopped up from his chair   
"I'll drive you." Sam offered.   
Gabriel could see a change in Ruby's eyes. they looked like she was ready to personally drag both of them to hell. Gabriel looked at Sam, whose face was once again blank. "Are you sure?"   
"Can't have you being late to your big date." He told him, and it was probably the first time since Sam saw Lucifer that he actually smiled, even if the smile was forced.   
Gabriel smiled back at him. "Thanks."   
  


Ruby said nothing as the two men left. Once they were inside the elevator Sam looked at him. He was smiling, but only just barely. Gabriel eyed him curiously, which made Sam's smile grow into a smirk. "So this date, how big is the chance it's with three cats?" He asked.   
Gabriel looked at him with an innocent smile. "That's not the point."   
Sam chuckled at that And Gabriel was amazed at how relax he again seemed all of a sudden. "Thanks."   
Once they were in the car and there was no one that could hear them, Sam sighed. "Sorry for tonight."   
"Can I ask what the hell was going on? I mean, if I have to draw my own conclusions, you're not going to like them." Gabriel told him honestly. 

Sam realized what he meant and he shook his head quickly. "It's not like that." His voice was heavy, emotion drained again. Gabriel wondered if Sam believed himself at this point.   
"Ruby and Lucifer have this history. I try to forget about it, but... I don't know."   
Gabriel hadn't expected Sam to be that up front. "Whenever Ruby and I hit a rough patch, there always seems to be something she's working on with him. I'm not saying there is something going on, but I can't help but feel like there is some times. And I know that that's my fault. I mean, my ex used to cheat all the time.  
"I guess I'm projecting that onto Ruby, and that's not fair to her. We've talked about it, and Lucifer is her friend and her boss. I know that it's selfish of me to want them to stay away from each other and I can't ask that of her." 

Gabriel looked at Sam, wondering how many of those words were his, and how many were Ruby's. "I don't know, it wouldn't be too much to ask of her to at least let you know she's bringing him home if there's a history..."

  
"I mean, there's sort of a history..." Sam said, already paddling his remark back. "Have you ever gone to the office christmas party?"  
Gabriel shook his head. "Nothing good happens at parties like that."   
Sam laughed humorlessly. "You're right about that." He agreed. "Well Ruby and Lucifer both got a little drunk two years ago. It's not a big thing, it happens you know. I mean, it wasn't really cheating, I've been through that as well. This was different. It was just a kiss when both of them got too drunk."   
Gabriel looked at Sam. For someone that looked as confident as Sam did, he was dealing with a lot of insecurities. Enough to not trust his own judgement it seemed.   
But Gabriel didn't feel like there was a lot to gain by commenting on the fact that it seem like Ruby and Lucifer were up to something not meant for the office. If Sam was able to deny what was in front of him so easily, Gabriel couldn't convince him either. And he had no proof for anything.   
"If you ever need to talk, or if something happens, you got my number, you know where I live." He told him instead.  
  
Sam smiled at him. "Yeah... Let's get you there..." He said before starting the car and driving out of the garage. They drove in relative silence for about ten minutes before Sam started the conversation again. Gabriel could sense he didn't have a lot of people to talk to about this sort of stuff.   
"You know what the problem is. We've been on shaky ground for some time now if I'm honest. I feel like I can't talk to her about why I don't feel comfortable with Lucifer coming over. I don't really want to make a wrong move and blow down the card house I spend the last few years building, just because I'm jealous. And I know how much she hates my jealousy. She says I keep blaming her for someone else's mistakes."

Gabriel huffed. "If something bothers you, seems like you should talk about it... What good is holding on if you are not happy. Then again, what do I know, I'm not even dating anyone."   
Sam laughed, although it again didn't reach his eyes. "As far as I know, you have a date tonight." He reminded Gabriel. "But maybe you're right, maybe I should just talk to her."   
"I've got some wisdom every now and again." Gabriel said with a grin. 

Sam dropped Gabriel of in front of his house. "I'll see you again tomorrow."   
"Good luck tonight." Gabriel told him before he closed the door to the car. He gave Sam a small wave as he drove off.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because it's only a short chapter, I decided to publish this as a little weekend extra.   
> Look out for Wednesdays chapter though! I'm already excited I get to share it in a few days :)

The next day, Gabriel was reminded of the awkward meeting at Sam's as soon as he walked into The Cave and saw Balthazar.   
"Hey, I saw Lucifer yesterday. He told me to tell you need to go look at his computer. He needs another fix."   
Baltazar looked at him with an expression Gabriel couldn't read. "When did you see Lucifer?" He asked, crossing his arms.   
Gabriel shrugged. "He was at Sam's place yesterday. I don't know if he knows about our deal, but he seems to realize you are the only one handling his tickets, since he asked for you specifically."   
  
Balthazar smirked. "You were at Sam's apartment again?" He clarified. "What was Lucifer even doing there. And what were you doing there..? Is there something playing between you and Sam?" He asked in a conspiratorial tone. "You know I wouldn't judge you, I've definitely done worse. I would however tease you relentlessly."  
Gabriel smirked at that. He didn't doubt either statement. "If I'm completely honest... It's not like that with Sam. I mean, don't get me wrong, the guy is a straight ten..."   
"Emphasis on straight?" Charlie quipped, dropping into the conversation.   
Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Even so. It's just fun hanging out and working on the project we all want approved." Gabriel reminded them.   
Charlie nodded. "Okay, you are right about that.." She admitted. "Why was Lucifer at your meeting though. I didn't think he'd take an interest in anything IT related."   
Balthazar huffed out a laugh and Gabriel realized if anyone knew how true that was, it was Balthazar. The other didn't seem to want to explain why the comment was so funny, so Gabriel looked back at Charlie.  
"He wasn't there for our project. He's doing a project with Ruby. She said they were changing up the business roles. As soon as Sam and I arrived he left though. He and Sam don't really get along." He explained. He didn't tell charlie why they didn't.  
  
Charlie huffed. "I can't imagine anyone actually liking Lucifer. And another thing... Since when are all meetings at home? I mean, I hate meetings at work more than enough, why would I take that stuff home with me."   
"I don't know." Gabriel answered. "Sam and Ruby own a pretty nice apartment, fourteenth floor, pretty view. If they don't take work home with them, I guess they don't really get to enjoy it."   
Balthazar shrugged. "I don't know, I've been messing around with this guy who lives on the twentieth floor, right by a lake. I think I've only been there 3 times or so and he also spends most of his time at the office. I think it's more to do with Sam. He seems like the kind of sap that would want to take everyone home."   
Charlie lifted an eyebrow. "You're messing around with a big shot? For how long has it been going on?"   
"I think about three years. I mean it's nothing serious. I just meant to say he is almost never at home, so I don't think its that big of a thing..." He grabbed his laptop. "Anyway, I'll find out what Luci wants this time." He said, a small smile on his lips as he left.  
  
Charlie turned to Gabriel again. "Even if the project doesn't come through. It's a good thing you got an inside man now for stuff like this. It takes ages to change up tall the business roles and I hadn't heard about the plan before. They probably forgot about us again, but if there is a changeup in business roles, I expect we'll get a ticket for that any day now. It's such a pain to switch up all all authorisations and then have people complain about it the whole day long." She sighed. 

It was around lunchtime that friday when Sam came to visit The Cave to tell Gabriel that he wouldn't have time to meet him that evening. He was taking Ruby out to eat." Sam wasn't going to mention last night with Charlie and Balthazar there, but Gabriel assume it meant they were going to talk.   
He told Sam it was no problem at all. They were ahead of their schedule, and some things just had a higher priority. 

Sam smiled at him gratefully. Before he headed out of the cave he made sure to ask Charlie if there were any updates planned that he should know about.  
Charlie told him there weren't, but added "I heard Ruby and Lucifer are changing up the business roles. I haven't heard anything about it yet, and it's a very IT heavy process so could you ask them to inform me of the changes and make me part of it? I'm not sure how much they can do without me if I'm honest." 

"You haven't heard anything about that yet?" Sam asked confused. Charlie shook her head. "Nothing besides Gabriel mentioning it." She clarified.   
Sam squinted. "Yeah I'll uh... I'll let her know." He muttered.   
Gabriel caught Sam's eyes and Sam tried to look away before Gabriel could read him, but Gabriel saw the anger in those eyes. To him, it had just been a throwaway comment, but he now realized just what it meant.   
Ruby and Lucifer had been working on that project for as long as Sam and Gabriel had been working on theirs. If all that time was really spend on the business roles, it was impossible that Charlie hadn't been informed yet.   
"uh, I need to go." Sam said, before walking out of The Cave. Charlie looked at Gabriel, lifting her eyebrow. "Did I say something wrong?" She asked. Gabriel bit his lip. "I don't know." 


	8. Chapter 8

Gabriel was playing Raft with Charlie via Discord that friday after work. Most of his free time was spend like that, gaming with Charlie or Balthazar or people online. It might sound lonely, but he loved spending time with them like that. 

He hadn't really had time to game after work anymore, now that he spend every weeknight working on the project with Sam. Of course he stilled played with them on the weekends. During college he spend a lot of time going out, but now he was more than content with staying inside to play games with his friends.

This way he could stay comfortable in his own home, surrounded by his cats. While they played, Mittens usually tried to get him to pet her. Eventually she would always settle down on his lap. She was the oldest of his cats and her beautiful light grey fur was already getting a bit more white over time. She had been with Gabriel since he was a student. When he had to go looking for a job he decided Mittens needed a friend, since he would be away to much, and Mittens liked attention. That's when he adopted Beatrix, or as he called her, Beanie.   
Beanie made sure to stay close to Gabriel and Mittens at all times. When Gabriel was gaming, she preferred laying on top of the pc under his desk. It got nice and hot for her to relax on top off. His last cat, Socks, was from a litter from a friend of his brother. She was blind in one eye and she wasn't that fond of people. The owners of the mother had no idea what to do with Socks, since they weren't allowed another cat in the apartment and no one wanted to take her. When Castiel told Gabriel about the kitten, he decided to take her in almost immeaditly.  
Even though he and Socks got along better than Socks usually got along with people, she still wasn't the most cuddly cat. She had her own spot in the house, the cardboard box in which they delivered the cat bed that was actually meant for her. 

Gabriel was getting into the game when the doorbell suddenly rang. Beanie already got up to see who it was. Gabriel told Charlie to hang on for a second and picked Mittens up, carrying her to the door. Beanie was already miauwing at Gabriel to open. Luckily his cats never tried to escape so he could just open the door without having to worry about them getting out. He wasn't expecting anyone, and no one he knew was the kind of person to drop in unannounced. 

When he opened the door, he wasn't sure how to react to the man in front of him. He certainly hadn't expected Sam to show up all of a sudden, the one night they weren't working together. But there he stood. He was shaking lightly and his eyes were red. "Sam." Gabriel said, worried.   
  


Gabriel was still holding Mittens, but Beanie made her way over right away, inspecting the unknown man.   
"I uh... I hope it's not a bad time." Sam asked. He smiled an empty smile at the cat that was rubbing her head against Sam's leg. His face was drained of all color and his voice was hoarse. Gabriel shook his head as he stepped aside to let the other in, followed by the cat.   
"Not at all. Come in, sit down." He motioned over to the couch. When Sam sat down Beanie eyed him warily before hopping onto his lap. Sam started petting the cat softly. Gabriel could hear a slight murmur coming from his headset and realized Charlie was still waiting for him.  
"Let me close my game." He put his headset back on. "Hey Charlie, something's come up. I'll talk to you later okay." 

"Everything okay?" She asked, her voice worried.   
"Yeah, just something came up." He assured her before closing the game and disconnecting from discord. Sam looked at him grateful. He hadn't explained why he was there yet, but Gabriel had was pretty sure something happened during dinner.   
  
  
"So, what happened?" Gabriel asked as he sat down on the couch next to Sam.  
"I uh... I left Ruby." He said, He stayed quiet for a bit before letting out a big sigh. "I'm sorry for bothering you with this... I don't have a lot of people I trust and I sorta just drove here straight after the fight."   
Gabriel shook his head. "That's no problem, I promise. Just talk. What happened during dinner?" Gabriel asked.   
Sam sighed again. "We didn't even get to the restaurant." Sam said. "When she was getting ready in the bathroom, I saw she left her phone. She usually never leaves her phone in another room, but she must have forgotten. I normally wouldn't have looked... But I saw a message sent by 'new girl from hr'..."   
Gabriel looked at him confused.   
Sam sighed. "It's a code name, my ex did it as well to hide all the texts from the other guy. Apparently Ruby learned that trick as well. It was Lucifer." Sam's voice sounded strangled as he tried to continue. "It said he'd take her for dessert tomorrow... I know I should have left it at that, but I couldn't ignore it. I'm navive, but I'm not an idiot... So I looked through her phone. They've been texting since long before the Christmas party I told you about. It's been over two years now. She's been telling him all kind of stuff about me as well... About..." 

He put his head in his hands as he shook off that thought. "I really thought she was the one you know. She had to be." Sam said his voice desperate. As he looked up at Gabriel his eyes looked so insistent, like he could will it into being. Gabriel put a hand on Sam's shoulder. The tension in the other man dropped a little.   
"She was going to leave me either way... But apparently she was planning on making it my fault. That way she'd be able to be the one heartbroken at work. She and Lucifer had it all figured out."   
Gabriel didn't have much he could say the that. The idea of someone going that out of their way to hurt anyone, let alone someone as kind as Sam. He wouldn't put it past Lucifer, but he hadn't expected it from Ruby. Even after last night, she seemed to want to hold on to Sam. Either that, or she had played Gabriel as well. 

They sat in silence for a little while, Gabriel's hand on Sam's shoulder as he buried his face in his hands and sobbed. Beanie was pressed against him tightly and the cat seemed to offer Sam some comfort.  
When Sam had calmed down a little, petting Beanie softly as tears still staining his cheeks, Gabriel got up.   
"I'm going to pour both of us a good glass of Whiskey." he decided.   
Sam looked at him and Gabriel had never seen the other look this small. "Thanks." He just told him, voice rough from the sobs  
.  
Gabriel hurried over to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of Whiskey and two glasses. He put them on the table and poured a glass for both of them. "So, she's been cheating on you all that time?"   
"Yeah." Sam answered. He reached for the glass and took a big gulp before he continued. "I think I always sort of knew." He admitted. "I just thought we'd grow past this. I can't have every relationship end like this, you know." He said.   
Gabriel remembered Sam talking about an ex cheating on him as well. It had to be hard to be hurt like that twice.  
"I just really wanted it to work. I mean, she's all I have, you know." Sam sighed. Gabriel had never seen Sam like this, he was usually so calm and composed, but right now, he was just a mess.   
Gabriel squeezed his shoulder again. He had never been great at talking about feelings, but he didn't want to leave Sam alone in this state. Sam let out a loud sigh, more tired than anything else. "In the last few years, I've barely seen any of my friends. She kept saying they made her uncomfortable, or that they reminded her of my old life. I wanted this to work so badly, and than it was my only option."   
He took another long drink before looking over at Gabriel. "I'm sorry for dumping this all on you." He told Gabriel, who rolled his eyes.   
"Stop apologizing. I don't mind. I'm just not sure what to say to all this. I mean, she sounds like a straight up bitch."   
"She is." Sam laughed a little. "And she hates you." He added, pouring himself another glass after looking at Gabriel for permission.  
  
Gabriel nodded, but he was confused by what Sam said. He wasn't bothered by the fact, but he did wonder when, and why, that was brought up. Either in their fight or in the texts to Lucifer.   
"Well, after what she did to you, I hate her as well, so that's good." He told Sam. Sam smiled at that. "So, did you talk to her after everything or did you just leave?" He asked.   
"She walked in as I was looking through the images she had been sending Lucifer last year. She got angry, telling me I was a bad boyfriend and I needed to respect her privacy. I told her I had seen enough to know just who had been the bad person in this.   
"And then I got this whole speech about how Lucifer respects her and I don't. How they are in love and how I was the one that drove her away in the first place. And that she knew I was planning to cheat on her, so I was being a hypocrite."   
Gabriel looked at Sam surprised, but Sam just looked away. "I'd never do that to anyone. She knows that, or at least I thought she did." He sighed. "I just. I don't know. I didn't want to be alone. Maybe I shouldn't have come here."  
"You're not alone, Sam. And I'm glad you came here." Gabriel assured him.   
Sam sighed. "Maybe I've made a big mistake. I mean... She felt like I didn't appreciate her all this time. It wasn't fair on her either, don't you think."   
"Honestly, I don't know what to think. I think she is definitely in the wrong here, and has been for some time. I also think you want this to be a mistake so you can try going back there." Gabriel admitted. If Sam wanted honesty, Gabriel could offer. Maybe it was even good for Sam to hear it.  
"What?"   
"You just told me she pretty much made you lose all contact with anyone besides her. You literally said you needed it to work out, not that you wanted it to." Gabriel reminded him. "I've been with some guys that tried tricks like that. They try to make you need them."   
  
"Why didn't I see this before?" Sam asked, his voice sounding almost desperate for answers. Gabriel shrugged. "Because you didn't want to see it." He simply said. "But you did see it. You saw the empty glasses of wine, the way they looked when we walked in on them. I'm sure you've seen it all around." Gabriel said. "Don't beat yourself up over it. This was her manipulation." He assured him.   
Sam sighed. "I feel like such an idiot."   
  
After a long silence the tears came back. Sam started crying again and Gabriel wasn't sure what to do. He had never been good at dealing with feelings and he knew nothing he could say right now would be a comfort to Sam. He was probably working through years of manipulations in his head, trying to figure out what was real.   
Gabriel softly rubbed Sam's back, before he pulled him in for a hug. It was the least Sam could do to show Gabriel he wasn't alone.  
Sam looked up at Gabriel with the most desperate look in his eyes, as he put his hand on Gabriel's cheek, leaning in closer. 

If Ruby hadn't existed, Gabriel would have gone for it, not only did Sam look exactly like Gabriel's type, he was kind and sweet and funny. But he was also at that moment vulnerable and desperately looking for something to cling to.  
As soon as Gabriel felt Sam's lips on his, he pulled back. Sam's eyes shot open. He seemed frozen for a second, before it seemed to click what he had just done. Or at least tried doing. "Gabe I'm sorry, I..."  
"It's fine. Happens to the best of us." Gabriel said, for once his head didn't fill with inappropriate jokes to make to defuse the tension. Well, it did, but he didn't say them out loud. Instead he pulled Sam into a hug again. A full hug this time. Sam clung to him, sobbing on his shoulder. "Thank you." Was all Gabriel could make out in between Sam's sobs. 

When Sam was a little more calmed down again the two pulled back. Sam's eyes were red from crying and the tears still stained his cheeks. Gabriel wiped a tear away with his thumb.   
Sam smiled a little through his tears. "I might be insulting you, but you really are a nice person you know."   
Gabriel smirked a little. "It's my best kept secret. So what is your plan for tonight, you need to stay here?"   
Sam looked unsure. "I was planning on booking a room in a hotel or something, but I probably shouldn't drive anymore." He said, looking at the bottle of Whiskey. "Are there any hotels in walking distance?"   
Gabriel shook his head. "If that's your plan, I'll have to disappoint you." He said.   
Sam looked at him unsure.   
"I'm not going to leave you on your own tonight. You are not prone to make smart decisions right now." He didn't comment on the kiss, but they both understood it was at least partially about that. Sam nodded, looking away from the other.   
Gabriel gave half a smile. "How about you spend the night on my couch and we'll look for a hotel tomorrow if you'd rather stay there afterwards."  
"Thank you." Sam said, giving Gabriel half a smile.   
"No need. It's the least I can do. Now, how I pour us another drink and you continue talking until it's out of your system." He offered.   
Sam nodded, taking the glass after Gabriel poured it.   
  
He once again told Gabriel how Ruby had changed him. Told him how much she had been there for him and how angry he was, how guilty he felt. How he wished he never found out and how he wished he had found out earlier. Sam was definitely a mess at that point. His logic fell completely by the wayside.   
Gabriel wished he had been better at knowing what to say, but he sensed that just letting Sam talk through it was important as well.   
  
He also wished he had told Sam earlier about his suspicions. He had hinted at it, but Sam was to invested to respond to that. Ruby and Lucifer barely even tried to hide their affair. He also didn't think it was his place to tell Sam. He had only known him for a few weeks now, and even though he considered Sam a friend, something the other seemed to agree with, they weren't close enough for Gabriel to suddenly start accusing Sam's girlfriend.   
Sam didn't seem to blame Gabriel at all luckily. He was more than willing than to tell his story several times over, which made Gabriel wonder when the last time was that Sam had been able to vent like that. 

At the end of the night, after more than half a bottle of whiskey and several hours of talking, Sam started to jawn. He was crashing now that all the adrenaline had rushed out of his body. Gabriel quickly got up to grab him some blankets and a pillow. He was pretty beat as well, but Sam seemed positively exhausted.   
He handed Sam the blankets. "If you need anything else during the night, the kitchen it there, bathroom is there and I'm just upstairs." He told Sam. "Don't hesitate to wake me up."   
  
"Again, thank you. Really." Sam said as he arranged the pillow and blanket. Gabriel smiled. "Don't mention it."   
As he walked up the stair, he could see Mittens following him. Usually Mittens and Beanie both slept in Gabriel's room, but it seemed like Beanie had decided to stay with Sam instead.   
  


Before Gabriel tried to get to sleep, he checked his phone. He had several texts from Charlie.   
' _What's going on, everything okay?'  
'Who was at your door?'  
'Gabe answer me when you read this, I'm getting worried.'_

He liked knowing Charlie cared that much about him, even if she had no reason to be worried. 

' _I'm fine. A friend showed up feeling bad. Had to comfort him.'_  
  
He didn't want to tell her the friend was actually Sam. He didn't think Sam would appreciate him talking about his relationship issues. He also imagined Charlie would probably draw her own conclusions about that. She knew Gabriel well enough to know he didn't have to many friends outside of her and Balth. 

Gabriel put his phone away and closed his eyes. It was hard to get to sleep, but the whiskey made it possible. He hoped the same was true for Sam, since the other definitely deserved some rest. 


	9. Chapter 9

When Gabriel woke up that saterday, it took him a second to remember Sam was actually downstairs. That him coming over hadn't been some weird fever dream. He rubbed his eyes and Mittens took the opportunity to nestle in between his arms purring softly. 

"We can't stay in bed darling." Gabriel told the cat as he forced himself to get up. He picked Mittens up and carried her downstairs, where Sam was still sleeping with Beanie curled up on top of his blanket. He smiled at the sight, glad Sam had managed to fall asleep. Gabriel tried to be as quiet as possible going into the kitchen.  
He put Mittens on the ground and the cat twirled around him as he prepared scrambled eggs and toast. To give sam some extra time to rest, he stayed in the kitchen until he could hear the sound of Sam waking up. As soon as he heard Sam asking Beanie if she had slept well, Gabriel made his way over He was carrying breakfast for two. Sam smiled at him, holding Beanie so she wouldn't fall when Sam sat up.   
  


"Morning." Sam said in a gruffy morning voice that caught Gabriel off guard completely and he had to remind himself it was not the right time for innapropriate jokes about how he liked hearing that every morning.  
Gabriel smiled back. "Morning." He answered. "Hungry?"   
Sam nodded. "Definitely." He took the plate gratefully and Gabriel set his own plate down to feed the cats first . 

"How are you feeling?" Gabriel asked from the kitchen. Sam stayed silent for a moment before letting out a big sigh. "Honestly, I don't know." He answered. "I'm grateful I'm not alone right now." He admitted.   
Gabriel smiled at that as he put the cat food in the three bowls. "You are free to stay as long as you want, but if you need to hang out a little longer, maybe we can look for something a bit more comfortable than the couch." Gabriel offered.   
  
Another silence followed, and Gabriel wondered if his invite had been too forward. In all honesty, despite working together every day during the last two weeks, they hadn't know each other for that long.  
Gabriel never quite knew where the line was between distant and friendly, and between friendly and _too friendly_. Especially since Sam knew Gabriel thought he was attractive and Sam had even tried to kiss him in a moment of weakness.   
After a second Sam answered from the livingroom. "No, it's fine. I won't bother you any longer." He assured Gabriel. Gabriel put the just filled water bowls on the ground before returning to Sam.  
"I'm fine with anything. I'm telling you it's not a bother." He told Sam again. "I mean come on, who doesn't want to say they have a live in hunk."   
The remark slipped passed his lips before he realized, but he still grinned. He expected the subject to bring tension, or to make Sam blush. Instead he laughed. It was a genuine laugh, and it almost felt like everything was okay again. Gabriel knew Sam was far from okay, but the laugh was a good first step. 

"So that's what I'm good for." Sam chuckled Lifting his eyebrow playfully.   
Gabriel smirked, happy to see Sam smile again. "Bragging rights are very important okay." He countered.   
Sam shook his head, still laughing as he started his breakfast. "If Ruby could hear you right now, I'm sure she'd be furious." The mood dropped a little as he said it, and Gabriel couldn't help but notice Sam's expresion fall.  
"I'm just teasing, Sam." Gabriel said softly.  
Sam smiled softly, but it wasn't as genuine as it had been before. "I know, Gabe. It's fine. She was just very jealous. When ever I hung out with anyone except her, she'd tell me I was probably cheating. I guess I now understand why her mind went to that conclusion first." He shook his head as he huffed out a soft laugh.  
Gabriel looked at Sam, he seemed to be doing a lot better than he was yesterday.  
"At least you don't have to worry about her anymore." Gabriel reminded him.   
"I guess... It's weird how she is still playing with my head even now still. Even just sitting here, I feel like I'm supposed to have some excuse for when I get home."   
"That's not healthy." Gabriel muttered.  
Sam shrugged. "I was used to it." He explained, clearly not comfortable with facing how much he had been manipulated by Ruby. He looked at Gabriel and bit his lip softly, as if he was thinking something over. "I do need to talk to you about something else..." He started. Gabriel could see that whatever topic Sam wanted to discus made him nervous. Gabriel thought it would either be about Sam trying to kiss him, or about Sam wanting to clarify he wasn't actually interested.

"I don't think anything is going to come from the project." Sam admitted, letting out a big sigh.   
Gabriel had to do a mental switch to realize what project Sam was talking about. "Why not, it has nothing to do with Ruby..."  
"Well, she is the one that convinced Lucifer it was worth it, but not for the reasons we imagined... One of the texts I read said that Ruby had found something to keep me busy... All Lucifer had to do was invite 'that lesbian in IT' to the board meeting." Sam made a face as he said it, and Gabriel could just feel the anger. "It got lost between everything I was learning all at once, but I just realized... It was never their plan to actually go through with it. The whole thing was to keep me busy, so they could meet at our apartment."

Gabriel had to keep calm, but he wanted to scream. This project had been the first time he had stuck his neck out for anything at work. He worked so hard, he actually cared about the project. For the first time it felt like his work had a purpose...  
Not to mention what it would do to Charlie. He could still see her excitement at being invited to the meeting. "They can't just do that." Gabriel mumbled.  
He knew it wasn't the worst thing Ruby had done by far, but it still stung that the first time he loved his job, it was some sort of ploy too hurt someone he had grown to care about.  
Sam looked at him apologetic. "I didn't mean for you to get dragged into this." He sighed. Gabriel shook his head. "You actually gave me a chance Sam. It's not your fault that she manipulated you like that." 

"You know that's not true. It definitely is." Sam told him.   
"Dude, none of this is your fault, and I'll fight you on that." He said, pointing his finger at Sam and earning another chuckle. "Charlie has been telling me to be careful of Ruby since the start." He said. "And if I'm honest, I had no clue how vindictive she could be, despite being warned."   
Sam nodded as he silently continued his breakfast. Gabriel could still see a lot of guilt in his eyes. "So, I'm guessing you are not going to continue working at Morningstar Inc. anymore?" Gabriel asked, now that his mind train of thought had been switched to work. 

Sam shrugged. "I have my yearly evaluation with Lucifer in three months. I'm pretty sure I'll get a shitty review so he can kick me out. But until then, he has no legal standing to fire me, so I'm staying until I find something better. I'm not going to let them scare me away." He told Gabriel, who couldn't help but smile. It had to be hell to work together with an ex and under the guy she used to cheat on Sam, but it showed his fighting spirit that he would still stay.  
"Besides," Sam continued. "I'm sure there are other firms looking to hire. Hopefully I can hop straight over before I even get a review."   
There was something about the way Sam looked at Gabriel, a sort of concern.  
"I'm sure there are better jobs in IT as well, with your skills and all..."   
Gabriel squinted at him. "I mean, probably... I'm not planning on leaving if I'm honest. I mean, what they did was a dick move to say the least, but I'm just an IT guy. I don't need to deal with Lucifer of Ruby on a daily basis, but I do like working with Charlie and Balth, although you can never tell him that.."  
  
Sam looked uncomfortable, not even reacting to the joke. He avoided Gabriel's eyes. "Ruby is the one that has to sign everyone's employee evaluation... Including yours. Anything Charlie says can just be overwritten by her." He reminded Gabriel. "So you can't be sure you'll have a job for much longer..."   
"Why would she do that... I've seen her maybe three, four times..."   
"Like I said, she's the jealous type." He said again, eyes still very firmly fixed on his half eaten plate of scrambled eggs. "And everything kind of came to a head when you and I started working on the project." 

Gabriel looked at Sam incredulous. He liked the guy, a lot... But he hadn't expected that to cost his job security, nor his chance to work with friends.   
"I'm not the one that made you look through her phone." He reminded Sam. "And I'm not the one that made her cheat." His voice grew a bit harsher. He didn't want to blame Sam, but it did suck. Especially after he finally started enjoying his job. He finally started to edge away from the side lines, only to have it all crash down on top of him.   
Sam's brow furrowed as he looked at Gabriel with soft eyes. "I know, it's just... I know she has this vindictive streak and she's going to assume things. She probably expected me to work with Charlie, no use getting jealous at a lesbian..." Sam rolled his eyes.  
"So, it's because I'm gay?" He asked, suddenly realizing that might actually be it. "What, is she afraid I'm going to turn you or something?" He laughed at how rdiculous the whole thing sounded.   
Sam bit his lip. "Well, not turn me..."  
Gabriel wasn't sure if Sam looked amused or confused at the idea.  
"You'd be a bit too late for that... I'm bi. actually." Sam explained. "It's uh... It's not something I throw around. I mean, you know how people are... And since I was dating a woman, it wasn't something anyone needed to know. She didn't even know until about a year ago. She was looking through my phone and a notification popped up. It was a reminder of some picture I took with my ex 6 years ago."   
Gabriel hadn't even considered that as a possibility. A lot of things started to make sence now that he was looking back.   
"So just cause we both like guys she thinks we're together?" Gabriel clarified.  
Sam nodded, he was still visibly uncomfortable talking about it. "That's how it's been going so far at least... Before she knew I liked guys, she asked me not to hang out with any girls alone. And you know, I was just cheated on... I didn't want her to even think that I was doing that so I agreed. After she found out about my ex, she's was uncomfortable with me hanging out with any of my friends without her there... They didn't even have to be gay, I was the problem. So I'm sure with you, she had her mind made up the moment she found out you liked men."

Gabriel tried not to look too shocked. It was clear that the relationship hadn't been a healthy one before, but the idea of making Sam lose all his friends, using his bisexuality against him as well...  
Gabriel gave Sam a sorry smile. "So, you think that's the story they'll be going with to fire me, an office affair..?"  
Sam nodded. "Maybe. But honestly, she can use pretty much any excuse she wants..." Sam answered. "I'm sorry to drag you into all this. I just, I really enjoyed working together... I didn'tknow what I would be putting you through. And When I found out, I had no one else to turn too, and you are the only person I felt comfortable with in a long time."   
  
Beanie had apparently finished eating and was ready for some attention again. She came over to rub her head against Sam's leg, before jumping up on his lap again. Sam petted her, throwing her that caring smile that Gabriel was starting to love.  
  
Gabriel smiled back at Sam when he looked up. "So, If I understand correctly, I should probably go look for a new job as well." He asked with a sigh. He had finally found a place where he felt like he belonged. Maybe not in the business as a whole, but within his team, he had a place. 

Sam scratched the back of his head. "I mean... If they try anything, you could probably sue them, but it's not going to be a fun environment if they are forced to keep you on. But the application you've built... Maybe you can do something with that. Cyber security is a big deal. Maybe you can sell the plans or something, and look for a company that appreciates you. Or create a start up, who knows."

Gabriel considered his options. "I do miss being able to built applications and stuff like that. Maybe I can look for something in that field... I'll miss the Cave though..." He said, the corners of his lips pulling up slightly.   
Sam nodded. "I'm still sorry I dragged you into all this. I probably shouldn't have come here in the first place. If anything, I've only made it worse for you."  
"Stop apologizing, will you. I'm glad you dragged me into this." Gabriel assured the other.   
"Why?"  
"Cause I was so used to being treated like crap... I didn't even notice it anymore. You made me realize I don't have to settle for that."   
Sam smiled softly. "Well you shouldn't. You bring a lot of value as an employee with all your skills. And you make quite the friend."   
  
Gabriel smiled at that, although he felt a bit uncomfortable with how the topic had switched to him. He instead asked Sam what the plan was for today.  
Sam shrugged. "I need to get some stuff in order firsts. I don't want to barge back into the appartment and demand that she leaves. I have the right to do that, but I don't think she'd listen. Besides, I'm not sure I want to be alone there right now." He told him. "I need to get all the legal stuff in order if she refuses to leave when I'm ready to go back, I think I'll do that in the moring. I have most of the nessesary files on my computer already."  
"Is it just me or have you thought about this a lot before?" Gabriel asked, lifting an eyebrow.   
Sam sighed. "I kind of knew, in the back of my mind that it wasn't right, you know... So I've looked over what I would need." He admitted. "I told myself it wasn't for me, but I knew." 

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah I get that. How about you start on whatever you need to do? I have to get ready anyway. Maybe when you're finished we can watch a few movies, get your mind off it." He suggested.  
Sam smiled at that. "That would be nice. You're sure it's no problem for me to hang out a little longer?" He asked. Gabriel shook his head. "I think Beanie would be mad if you left now." He said, petting the cat that was still comfortable on Sam's lap, before getting up to get showered and dressed. 

When Gabriel got out of the shower, Sam was already hard at work. Gabriel wasn't sure what he was doing exactly, but he was sure he wouldn't understand, even if Sam showed him.  
"Everything okay, need anything?" He asked.  
"No, I just need to get this done, so I'm done with it."   
"I think I'll hit the stores for some snacks during the movie, anything I can bring you?"   
Sam looked at him. "You don't mind me being alone in your house when you go shopping?"   
Gabriel laughed. "What would you do, steal my second hand couch to put in your massive apartment. I'm sure you're fine." He assured Sam. 

Gabriel didn't miss how much Sam's eyes lit up at that. He wasn't sure what caused it, but he knew Sam hadn't really received any kind of trust during his relationship. "So anything tickle your fancy?"  
"Anything is fine."  
"You are kind of a health-freak right?" Gabriel asked him with a grin.  
Sam shrugged. "I don't want to be a bother."  
"It's fine, but I am taking that as a yes."  
"I mean. I do try to pick what I eat with some consideration."  
"So yes." Gabriel smirked.  
"Fine yes." Sam smiled as he admitted it. "I'm a bt of a health-freak."  
"See everyone has a downside, Samster." He teased. "I think I just found yours."

When Gabriel returned from the grocery store, he was carrying two grocery bags full of chips, dips, pretzels, popcorn, ice-cream and some dippable vegetables for Sam.

Sam grinned at the volume of their snacks, but offered some help with unloading the groceries. "You really went all out, didn't you?" He asked as he put the soda in the fridge.  
"I'm an all out kinda guy, besides nothing helps you through a break up more than carbs." He assured Sam.  
Sam smirked. "Is that so?" There was a glint in Sam's eye that Gabriel decided he liked a lot.  
"It works for me." Gabriel shrugged. "I got you some green stuff too, but you know what you really need." He pulled the tub of ice-cream to show Sam.

Gabriel couldn't help but realize him home had never felt this homelly before. Unpacking groceries while making jokes. The cats running around them. He could get used to this. Of course, it would end pretty quickly.  
After all, Sam would most likely want to go to a hotel or back to his own appartment, rather than spend his time on the couch of a guy he knew for less than a month, even if it felt like they had know each other for a lot longer.

When all the groceries were stored, Gabriel moved down to pet Mittens, who was begging for attention. "Yeah, you saw we had food right, you want some too?" He asked in a high pitched voice.  
The cat meowed in response, earning a chuckle from Sam. "Quite a life you have, you know."  
"I know it's not as exciting as a luxury apartment, but it's enough for me."  
Sam crouched down to pet Mittens as well and suddenly Beanie invaded the space, demanding attention from Sam. "I like this. It's nice. I always wanted a pet."  
"Why don't you get one?"  
"I'm to busy with work, I have days of 12 hours, I can't leave any pet alone for that long, multiple days in a row and weekends when the job demands it." He said, running his finger over Beanies head.  
Gabriel smiled as he took Mittens in his arms. "Well, now you have the chance to look for a pet friendly office." Gabriel offered. "Maybe an office cat or dog?"  
Sam chuckled. "That's a good way of staying positive."  
"Why not? There are a lot of them, pretty sure it's one of those new hypes that flew over from silicon valley. And why not focus on the staying happy, life's a lot more fun that way."  
Gabriel wasn't sure why Sam was suddenly looking up at him so intently as he answered "I guess it is." with a big smile.  
Gabriel smiled back at Sam. "Let's give these monsters their snacks. Are you done with your work or do you need some more time before we start our movie night."  
Sam shook his head. "Everything's in place so far.When I'm ready to go back, I'll be able to get the apartment back fully."

"Until then, you have a place on this couch for as long as you want."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry no update for 06-01-2021, It didn't come out the way I wanted, so it's going to take an extra week  
> Sorry again!


	10. Chapter 10

When Gabriel and Sam got ready for work that monday, Sam asked him if he would mind getting out of the car early. Maybe about a block away from the company-parking lot. He seemed to be ashamed to ask it, but Gabriel was pretty okay with not being accused of sleeping with the boss. Even though there was nothing going on between them, he knew how people worked. If word got out that Sam and Ruby broke up and suddenly started Sam showing up every morning with the same guy he left with that night, it wouldn't be a leap to assume there was something more going on between them. 

A part of Gabriel kind of hoped Ruby would find out they were sneaking around somehow. Just because he wanted to see her face as she imagined what it could mean, hopefully coming to all the wrong conclusions. He wouldn't do anything to make that happen, because it would certainly have consequences in regards to his job security until his preformance review, but there was nothing wrong with a little revenge fantasy to entertain him on his short walk from Sam's car to the office.

Gabriel knew he still had at least one person to answer to about his weekend with Sam, and she didn't need to see them arrive together to know who Gabriel spend his weekend with. As soon as Gabriel opened the door to The Cave, one look at Charlie was enough to know she was eager for answers.  
"Hey... So how was your weekend?" She asked, a grin plastered on her face as she lifted her eyebrow. "How's your friend doing?"   
Gabriel rolled his eyes with an amused smile, shaking his head as he made his way over to his desk in silence. He could feel her eyes following him, grinning at her curiosity.

"He seems to better." He answered after sitting down. 

Charlies eyes were still trained on him, but the comment caused a soft smile that betrayed that she had been at least a bit worried as well. "You know you don't haveto tell me, but is it who I think?" The words sounded more careful than he was used to. There was no denying she was right, but it didn't feel right to just say it and share Sam's problems with someone, even if that someone was as trustworthy and kind as  
Charlie.   
He turned to look at her, and although it was clear she was curious, or maybe just worried, he knew she would understand. "Char... I'm not going to say it."   
"You don't have too." She told him again, al though it was pretty clear at this point who they were talking about. "I do want you to be careful, Gabe. I mean it. You don't want to lose your job over something like this."   
Gabriel looked at the floor between them before turning his desk chair to look at his computer instead. He considered telling Charlie what Sam told him. How Ruby would most likely override the performance review and kick him out in a few months. Instead he let the silence linger until she turned away as well.

"You know me, I'll always land on my feet." He muttered to give her and himself some words of comfort, before he turned on his computer to start the day. He was grateful she didn't bring it up again, even if it never really left his mind.   
He was glad the rest of the day went by pretty uneventful. He was still grateful that Balth took all of Lucifer's tickets, because Gabriel wasn't sure he could face him after what Sam had told him. Charlie didn't say a thing when all of a sudden seven tickets flew in from Ruby, complaining about the tiny features in certain applications or programs. As soon as Gabriel got himself ready to open the tickets, Charlie had already assigned them to herself. 

When Charlie called Ruby to deal with the tickets, Gabriel could hear most of the conversation. It didn't seem to be pleasant in the slightest, but he expected that she just wanted to let out all her anger and frustration. After Charlie hung up, her face was blank. Balthazar went to get her a hot chocolate and Gabriel handed her some of the candy ration. When she was a bit more calm she told them about how horrible Ruby had been on the phone, letting it out before they went back to work.   
  


Gabriel planned to go up to Sam's office at half past five, just like he had done almost every day for the past two weeks. It wouldn't raise suspicion, since no one knew there was no longer any reason for them to work on the project.   
Just as Gabriel was packing up his stuff to go up, Sam walked into The Cave after a short knock. Gabriel was surprised to say the least, wondering why Sam hadn't waited for him in his office.   
"I'm done with my work for the day, so I figured I could pick you up and we can continue on the project somewhere else. I'm going a bit crazy staring at the same fours walls for a whole day." He answered before Gabriel could even ask his question. 

Balthazar huffed out a laugh, a sly grin on his lips. "I'm sure you two can 'work' in your office. Those walls are pretty thick, if your worried about that."   
"I'm sure you've tested that out plenty." Gabriel answered back with a smirk.   
Sam chuckled at the banter. He did look a bit awkward, standing in the doorframe, turning around to see if no one was walking by to catch the conversation and get the wrong idea. Charlie seemed to take pity on him. "How about we don't discuss your adventures in front of a guest. You can come in, you know. Maybe close the door before the whole office learns about Balthazar's hobbies."   
Balthazar gave Charlie an overdramatic angry stare before grinning again, but he didn't comment any further. Charlie gave him a grateful smile before turning to Sam, asking about some management report to wrap up the third quarter. Gabriel was amazed at how smoothly she glossed over the usual small talk while seemingly still making Sam feel welcome.   
  


As soon as Gabriel had packed up, the two of them went home. There was no need to meet up somewhere down the street. People knew they worked on a project in the evenings after all so it wasn't suspicious that they got into the same car. 

Gabriel waited to ask Sam about his day until they were pulling out of the parkinglot, so no one might accidentally hear the answer. Sam stayed silent for a little bit, as if he wasn't sure. 

"It was mainly just weird." He admitted. "I have expected to hear something from her, but she hasn't even shown herself on my floor. Lunch was weird as well, since I discourage my team from working through their lunch, but it was the only I had for going down to the cafeteria and eat lunch alone." 

"And she hasn't tried to get into contact once?" Gabriel asked.

Sam shook his head. "I'm kind of glad she didn't." He admitted. 

The rest of the week was made up mostly of routine. Sam would drive them to work, letting him out at the same spot each day, they wouldn't see eachother for most of the day, but during lunch time, they'd chat on Skype, so Sam wasn't completely alone in his office. At the end of each day, Gabriel would go up to Sam's office to work on the project. They agreed that there would be talk if they went home to work on the project every night, so instead they hung out in Sam's office. Sam usually caught up with work as Gabriel kept working on the security program. Even though he already knew it wouldn't lead anywear, it would be weird if they had nothing to show for those last two weeks of work, and he was getting payed the extra hours still. 

Everything was working out better than expected and by Friday Gabriel reminded himself that they had made it through the week without any real hiccups. All that was left was going up to Sam's office one more time, but apparently that was when their luck ran out. 

Gabriel called the elevator to his floor to go up to Sam. When the doors opened, his heart sank. 

Ruby looked him straight in the eye, like she'd been expecting him. She was carrying a large box, but her outfit pulled all focus away from that. It was barely on the border of acceptable office attire, and not in the way Gabriel's casual hoodies were. 

She was wearing a very tight low cut red top with a black blazer and a short tight black skirt with a split. She eyed Gabriel coldly, a challenging eyebrow shooting up, daring him to get into the elevator with her. Like a champion would challenge people into a cage to fight.

Gabriel almost froze for a moment, caught of guard. He could go back with some lame excuse, but he didn't want to let her feel like she won. 

He decided to step in, not giving Ruby the enjoyment of thinking he was scared of her. He might have avoided anything to do with management at first, but now that he was in the thick of it anyway, he wasn't backing down. Ruby looked at him, almost impressed, as the doors closed. "So, you're going up to see _my_ Sam?"   
"I'm going up to see Sam." Gabriel corrected, looking straight ahead. "Are you going up to see Lucifer?" A small smile played on his lips, although he knew he was walking a dangerous road.   
"Don't get clever with me, Gabriel. You know you are just as much to blame as I am."   
That made him angry. "As wrong as you are about what you think going on, even you know that's bullshit."   
"You have no right to judge me." She said, her words like venom. "If Sam made me happy, like he should have, this wouldn't have happened."   
"Your actions are your own. No one makes you do anything, it's all you."   
  
Before she could retort, the doors opened on the fourth floor, and Gabriel realized he hadn't pushed the button. Which meant...

He wanted to curse as Ruby hurried out before him, probably trying to get Sam alone. He walked a bit quicker, trying to catch-up, but once they were at his office she turned to look at Gabriel.   
"Let me talk to him first, that's the least you could give me. If he decides to still go with you, you'll have the whole night, right..? I just need a quick drop off."  
Gabriel didn't say a word. He was sure Sam would send her away if he didn't want to see her. It wasn't his choice to make. He waited outside the office as Ruby went in, closing the door behind her.

It felt like he waited for hours, but when the door opened, the clock told him that only twenty minutes had passed since Ruby entered Sam's office. That was, however, more than enough time for Gabriel to replay the encounter several times over. It made him realize that no matter how it ended, there was no way Ruby would allow Gabriel to stay at the company. Sam had of course warned him about it, but seeing the hate in Ruby's eyes was what settled it. 

Not long after the door opened, Ruby walked out, no longer holding the box. She glared at Gabriel, not even bothering to make a comment as she walked past him in long strides. Gabriel went into the office, unsure what to expect.  
  
If he was being honest, he was quite surprised Sam wasn't crying when he walked in. He had seen the man cry over Ruby multiple times and he knew there were more tears left still. Sam looked more angry than sad however. A fist clutching his pen tightly enough to turn his knuckles white. He looked up at the sound of Gabriel closing the office door to give them some privacy to talk.  
"I'm guessing that wasn't great?" Gabriel asked with a small smile. 

Sam let out a loud sigh. "No, that wasn't great." He agreed, his grip loosened a little as he shot Gabriel a forced smile. "She brought me a box of my stuff..."   
"Why?" Gabriel asked confused as he looked at the now open box. From where he stood he could see a photo album with the text 'first year together' on it.   
"I asked her the same thing. She said she isn't planning on leaving our appartment any time soon." Sam huffed, his anger slowly transforming to annoyance. "So she brought this, incase I might need it if I moved in with my boyfriend instead."   
Sam didn't look ashamed of the accusation Ruby made, then again, he had seen it coming before they even broke up.

  
"If her face was anything to go by, she didn't like your answer to that." Gabriel noted. "What did you say?"   
Then Sam's face changed, as if he only just remembered his own side of the conversation. His cheeks turned red as he got quiet.   
  


Gabriel smirked, still thinking about the way Ruby looked at him when she left. "You didn't deny it, did you?" He asked, unable to keep the chuckle out of his voice.   
"I just really wanted to piss her off." He admitted. He looked at Gabriel again. A small smirk appeared on Sam's lips when he saw how funny Gabriel thought that was. "I might have told her you made me happier in a weekend than she could over five years." He chuckled and Gabriel couldn't help but laugh along.

"I can only imagine what she imagined at that..."  
Sam shrugged. "She didn't even ask, she just stormed out." He grinned. It was so good to see Sam smiling and joking again, and it seemed to come easy. 

There was something he was still curious about though. "What did she mean by not moving out. Isn't the apartment yours?" Gabriel asked as he thought about what Sam had said. Sam bit his lip. 

"Yeah... About that." He looked up at Gabriel again, not quite meeting his eyes. "I'm probably going to need to find a hotel if I don't want to overstay my welcome." The question behind the words was clear, but Sam didn't dare to ask. Gabriel smiled as he rolled his eyes. "If you keep talking like that, I might even believe you don't actually prefer to stay with me. But I'm not an idiot..." He added, giving Sam a knowing look. "Once again, you're free to stay however long you need. We might have to fix you up with a bed though. So what happened with your apartment?" 

Sam smiled at him, the guilt in his eyes was clear, but Gabriel meant it. He didn't mind housing the other for a bit longer. In fact, it was sort of nice to have someone around.   
"She told me she's not leaving. She even said that if I wanted, I could just move back in with her. We'd ignore everything and just continue where we left off. Or even, I could move back there without getting back together... But we'd keep up appearences." 

"Are you considering it?" 

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't sound nice, the opportunity of going back to a life that seems normal and familiar... To work it out and get back together instead of everything turning into crap again. But I don't think I can do that to myself, settle for safe but unhappy."

"So what's your plan?" Gabriel asked, glad to hear Sam didn't buy into the lie of happily ever after. "I mean, it's nice that she doesn't want to move out, but it's your apartment. There's no way she can just take that from you."  
"She basically told me to file a lawsuit if I wanted to evict her, then pointed out a small bit of case law I missed in my earlier research. There's precedence in the state that, in the event of a break up, both partners should have ample time to find new housing before an eviction notice can be signed. There is no saying whether or not that it will hold up, but I'm going to look into that before I do anything else. I don't think it's much use to file a case I know I'm not going to win, so I think I'll send her official notice to move out, and if she doesn't within a month, I'll atleast have prove of time for my case. But I can't expect you to house me for a full month." 

"So you're going to spend a fuck ton of money on a hotel room for a full month... I know you're rich, but that's ridiculous." Gabriel told him. 

"You really don't mind me staying at your place for that long." Sam asked, lifting an eyebrow. "What if you have a guy over or something. Good luck explaining that."   
Gabriel couldn't help but laugh. "Even if my life would be as interesting as you seem to think it is, he'd have to deal with it. I'm not having you pay thousands of dollars to stay somewhere by yourself, when you don't really want to be alone, just to have a few one night stands." He grinned, "And even if that happened to be my plan, I'll just say you're my roommate and if we get an extra bed, there's more than enough space for you in my spare bedroom." 

Sam looked at him with the same intense stare Gabriel had now received several times. But this time there was something else behind those eyes. Something Gabriel couldn't place. 

"You really don't mind?" Sam asked again after a short silence. "What do you want in return? Next to rent and grocery money of course..."  
The question had a double meaning that was hard to ignore. Gabriel wondered if it wasn't too shady to invite Sam in to stay with him for a full month. There was no reason for Sam not to expect some quid-pro-quo, and he had already showed that he knew Gabriel thought he was attractive. 

Gabriel could feel the tension grow as he tried to to think of a response that didn't make him seem sketchy, or at least not more sketchy without making it out to be a big deal. In the end he just sighed. "Is it really that hard to believe I'm just a nice person, sometimes?" 

Sam dropped his gaze. "Kinda, yeah." he admitted.  
Gabriel's stomach dropped, of course it was hard to believe some people were just nice after years of manipulation and being told you can't have friends becasue you can't trust them. Gabriel decided to go for another angle. 

"What would you expect of me if there roles were reversed?" He asked, lifting an eyebrow. 

"Nothing." he admitted.   
"Right, well I expect almost nothing... I do expect you to be my personal Uber from and to work." Gabriel teased to lighten the mood up again. 

Luckily Sam could laugh at that. "Or to IKEA if you're okay with looking for a bed today." He countered.  
Gabriel nodded, matching Sam's smile. "Sounds good. You ready to go?"


	11. Chapter 11

The trip to IKEA seemed to be exactly what Sam needed to get his mind off of the conversation with Ruby. Sam knew a few colleagues that went to IKEA for a quick bite after work. So they decided to drive to the IKEA in the next town over to avoid running into people that might have questions about the two of them looking for a bed together. 

Sam had been fairly quiet during the car ride over, probably trying the process conversation. Entering the furniture store, however, seemed to make him realize that with everything he had lost, he had gained freedom instead. As they roamed the store, Sam pointed out all the things he was going to put in his apartment once he got to decorate it on his own.

Sam seemed to like a more rustic style that Gabriel had expected, especially with all the modern furniture in his apartment currently. Then again, that was probably mostly Ruby as well. Gabriel was amazed by how much of Sam's life she had dictated. In the short week since they broke up, he had changed a lot already. He had grown a lot more comfortable in expressing his honest opinion instead of just going along with what was suggested. 

Even though they knew what bed they wanted to get: the cheapest one with a cheap mattress to match, they still strolled through the IKEA like they were just browsing. There was no use in spending tons of money for a temporary place to sleep, but that didn't mean they couldn't enjoy the store. Gabriel was grateful that Sam had suggested to go to IKEA in the next town over so they didn't have to constantly watch their backs to make sure they weren't spotted.

They decided to eat in the IKEA restaurant before going home. Gabriel loved swedish meatballs and Sam apparently just liked eating out, even if it wasn't a fancy restaurant. Gabriel joked about Sam being a cheap first date and Sam promised he'd take him out somewhere nice when everything was over. 

When they got to the restaurant, Sam suddenly stopped in his tracks, all color draining from his face. Gabriel followed Sam's line of sight, instantly understanding Sam's reaction. Apparently Sam and Gabriel weren't the only ones that had figured out the privacy the location afforded them. 

Lucifer was sitting alone at one of the tables. There was another plate across from his and the other chair was pulled back.   
Their CEO didn't really strike Gabriel like the sort of guy that went to IKEA to eat and neither did Ruby, but maybe that was just the reason they chose this place to sneak around.  
Lucifer looked less intimidating like this. He wasn't wearing his usual suit and tie, but a casual brown jacket and plain tshirt. If Sam hadn't stopped when he spotted him, Gabriel might not have noticed Lucifer at all. 

He probably would have noticed the person making his way over to that table carrying extra sauce packages. How couldn't he, he spent eight hours a day at a desk across from him. 

He almost felt like going up to Balthazar and asking him what on earth was going on, but he was too shocked to do anything like that. Instead he watched the other steal a fry from Lucifer's plate, taking a bite and feeding the rest of it to their boss. 

Despite the clear prove in front of him, he still couldn't believe Balthazar and Lucifer were actually... Doing whatever they were. They seemed to be pretty casual together. Lucifer laughed at some joke Balthazar made before a dirty smirk painted his face and he leaned in to whisper something. 

Balthazar was pretty open about sleeping around, and very discreet about with whom, but Gabriel had never seen this coming. He was glad the two were too caught up in each other to see Sam and Gabriel staring, but he didn't want to test their luck any longer. 

When he checked on Sam, the other looked as horrified as Gabriel felt. He was nailed to the ground, staring at the odd couple. Gabriel put a hand on Sam's lower back to guide him away past the restaurant entrance and into the elevator that lead to the exit. As they wordlessly waited for the elevator to arrive, Gabriel had half a mind to go back and make himself known. He had been to shocked when he first saw them, but now he wanted to walk right up there and wait until Balthazar noticed him. Partly just to stir shit up and see how they reacted, partly to get back at Balth for the endless teasing Gabriel had to endure every time Sam's name was mentioned. 

Sam seemed to notice his impulse and grabbed Gabriel's wrist as soon as he turned around to make his way back over to the restaurant. Gabriel looked at Sam confused. "Oh come on, why can't I mess with their date?" he asked in a hushed tone. "Balth wouldn't have let it slide if he had seen us here first." 

"True." Sam admitted. "But you don't want to anger Lucifer. He won't be as forgiving, and he's still the boss." Gabriel hated that, the idea that he had to act a certain way to that asshole, just because his dad left him a company. Sam pulled on Gabriel's wrist softly to get him into the elevator instead of letting him act on his worse impulse. Once the doors closed, Sam's fingers lingered, his thumb slowly caressing Gabriel's skin. 

When the doors opened again Sam pulled his hand back. Gabriel smiled up at him to let him know it was okay and Sam smiled backed, looking awkward as he realized what he had done. Gabriel wasn't sure what to make of it exactly, and he sure as hell wasn't going to ask. Sam most likely just needed to hold onto something real after witnessing something that seemed like pure fiction. 

The moment vanished quick when they stopped on the ground floor. Sam was in full control as he made his way through the warehouse to where their bed layed packaged. Gabriel followed along, not even bothering to see where they were going. He didn't need to, since Sam found the right section without a problem. Gabriel helped put the package in their cart as Sam went off looking for the mattress. 

Once Sam had collected everything, they payed and got out. They had been largely silent since they witnessed fever dream of Lucifer and Balthazar casually flirting over a plate of fries and meatballs. Now that they were outside, Sam looked at Gabriel again. "So, are you going to tell Balthazar we saw him?"

Gabriel considered it. "Probably... I mean, I can't just let this slide, now can I?" He grinned. "Besides, I've never been able to catch him with anyone. I almost thought he was bluffing with all those wild stories and unnamed guys..."  
Sam laughed along, although the shock was still evident in his face. 

Gabriel gave him a smile, it had to be nice to see Ruby get screwed over like that, but Sam didn't seem that excited by it. Gabriel slowly realized why it was probably a good thing that Sam wasn't eager to hold this over Ruby's head. "Hey Sam..." He started, in a careful tone. "I know this would be a good burn on Ruby... To tell her Lucifer is seeing guys behind her back. But maybe, since she is the sort of person that is going to fire me for just being friends with you... Don't tell her about Balth?" He wanted Sam to be able to throw that back in Ruby's face, but he didn't want Balth to get fired as well. He also didn't want Charlie to end up alone in that terrible company. 

"I think that's smart." He agreed with a soft smile "She'd go ballistic if she'd ever find out." He didn't seem upset that he didn't get to hurt his ex with information about her new lover. Gabriel wasn't sure if that meant he wasn't over her, or it just meant he was a better person than most people were. Either way, it was a good thing for Balthazar. 

Instead of Swedish meatballs, they stopped for some take out on the way home. As soon as they got back they carried the IKEA box up to the spare room Gabriel mainly used for storage until now. They sat down on the floor cross legged, enjoying their take-out while Sam looked over the instructions. Gabriel didn't join him in looking through those. Instead he tried to figure out the construction based on the markings of the assembly pieces themselves. 

It was clear Sam had a particular skill for understanding and following instructions. He went over them once, before starting at the top. He laughed as he saw how Gabriel had already pieced together what Sam informed him were step 5, 6 and 9 of the manual. Gabriel smirked. He only ever used the instructions for parts he couldn't piece together himself. Usually that worked out well, but there were occasions where he had built most of the piece, before finding out he missed something very essencial at the beginning and he had to take everything apart again. 

They got into a good rhythm together, with Sam reading out what he needed and Gabriel bringing it over and putting it in the right place so it could be connected. They had always worked well together, from day one of working on the project. Gabriel hoped he'd get to work with someone he clicked with like that on his next job. Sam had inspired him to do more than he had to do, and although it had probably cost him his job, Gabriel didn't regret speaking out for the project. He wanted to look for a job where he could do something like that again. 

Apparently he was staring, since Sam laughed before commenting. "Not that I don't appreciate the compliment, but I need a little more help than just you looking at me. Can you hand me a few wooden pins?"

Gabriel smirked as he dug them up from between the cardboard. "Let me have my fun looking at you." He countered, pushing his way in between Sam and the piece of wood he was holding up to push the wooden pins into it.  
He wasn't sure if they were just generally teasing each other or if they were actually flirting, but he knew he shouldn't make a move on Sam. Not while Sam was still recovering from a manipulating ex and not while he was living at his house to recover from that. Gabriel didn't want to give any impression that he wanted something in return, but there was no harm in flirting if Sam started it.   
"Since we're on the topic of me staring at you... You made Ruby think we were dating, right?" He asked, feeling a bit awkward as he mentioned it. The teasing was one thing, but it did make him think of the consequences of that statement. "Are inappropriate relationships at work something HR can fire us for, because I'm pretty sure that's something she'd use."

He could see the blood drain from Sam's face again as the other realized what he had done. "Shit..." 

Gabriel sighed, that wasn't the reaction he had hoped for. "How long do you think it'll take before she kicks both of us out?" 

"If we're lucky, she'll use it as a mark on the performance reviews... If we aren't, I'm guessing two weeks at the most." He stayed silent for a little bit, unmoving as he held the headboard up still. "I'll call her." He decided after a brief silence, clearly not looking forward to it. 

Gabriel sighed. He didn't want to have to leave any quicker than he had already anticipated. On the other hand, he was doomed anyway, what difference would a few days make. He didn't think a call from Sam would be enough for Ruby to believe they weren't dating anyway. And if anything, Sam calling for Gabriel's job would only get her more angry.   
"It's fine, whether I'm thrown out now or in a few months time... It's not going to make much of a difference, is it?" He shrugged, just hoping that Ruby wouldn't take it out on the whole IT department.

"How about this." Gabriel offered. "Since I'm helping you built this bed, you can help me build my resume. I never know what to put on that thing..." He admitted. 

Sam smiled a little, although he still looked sorry. "Sure." He said softly. 

"I was thinking, since Morningstar Inc. isn't going to use the program I built, why not sell the idea. I'm pretty sure it would look good on my resume and maybe, if it goes well, I can built and sell programs as a side hustle." 

Sam bit his lip. "You can't sell something you made for a company while working there. It's their intellectual property now, not yours." 

"What, how is it their property, I built the whole thing." Gabriel asked as he screwed the headboard it place tightly. 

Sam nodded as he took the screwdriver from Gabriels hand. "In their time, on their computer." Sam countered, his voice soft, as if to calm Gabriel. "But I'm sure you can get a good job where you can use those talents. I know a few people, maybe I can introduce you to some executives or something." 

Gabriel barely registered the offer, too focussed on the opportunity he saw. "What if I did it all on my own computer, and I didn't file the extra hours, so it would technically be my time..." Gabriel asked. 

  
Sam frowned. "Well I guess they can't say it's copyrighted for them... It's still their idea. No it isn't." He corrected himself. " You initiated the whole thing, right?"

Gabriel nodded as a smile started to form on his lips. "So, you think I could own the rights?" 

Sam looked impressed. "Yeah actually, probably... I'll look into it. So you're planning to sell the idea?"  
Gabriel shrugged. "Maybe, it would look good on my resume I suspect." 

Sam nodded in agreement. "Or you could start a business..." He said. Sam tried to be casual about the idea, but Gabriel could feel Sam's eyes study him with intent. "Like I said, I know some people. A lot of businesses need better security for their websites." 

Gabriel looked Sam over, wondering if he had gone crazy. "I'm just an IT guy. I can't run a business, that takes... I don't know... Skill." 

Sam smiled a crooked smile. "You underestimate yourself, Gabe." Sam said. "You've got charm, you're an easy talker and you're smart. Plus, you seem to be able to read people pretty well. Those are great qualities for running a business." 

Gabriel could almost feel himself blush as Sam listed his qualities. "I don't know..." Gabriel said softly.  
"Besides," Sam added. "It would mean you could work a lot more on projects like the security program. I mean. I know you had fun working on it." The other insisted. "More fun than you had when fixing font types in Word for the twentieth time that day."  
Gabriel smiled. "Of course I had fun. I got to work on coding again and there was a literal piece of man candy across from me the whole time." He grinned. Sam smiled, blushing a little, although he didn't seem to take the flirting all that seriously either. 

"Yeah I had fun with that part of the project as well." He grinned, lifting an eyebrow. Gabriel couldn't believe how much more comfortable Sam had grown in a few days. He had always been pretty relaxed around Gabriel, but he was always something that seemed to be holding him back.

"My point was, I like working with you, and I like coding. I'm not sure I'd like running a business." Gabriel reiterated. "I mean, I know nothing about selling software and setting up contracts."

"You don't have to do it alone." Sam offered.

"Who's going to help me? You're going to be busy at your new job, and my other friends will still be working at Morningstar Inc." 

Sam shrugged. "I don't have a new job yet, and starting a business is a job as well, if you'd want me to be a co-founder at least." 

"You're being serious?" Gabriel asked as he stopped paying attention to the bed all together. "You'd want to start a business, with me?" 

"Of course I'm serious. You deliver good work and you can charm the pants off of any potential customers. I'm good at the business side of things and I have some very useful connections. Think about it. We can do whatever we want with the business. We can even make the office pet friendly so Mittens, Socks and Beanie won't have to be alone all day. If you're up for it, we can start workshopping a name and corporate mission this weekend..." Sam had dropped all pretense of casualness. The more he talked, the more excited he grew. He was probably more excited than Gabriel had ever seen him be. But it wasn't just excitement behind those words, There was strategy and planning. Sam knew what he was talking about.

"This doesn't sound like a new idea. This sounds like you've been thinking about it before." Gabriel said, squinting at Sam.

"I've wanted to start my own business ever since college, but I never really had something to offer except legal consulting. That wasn't really what I wanted. And you know... Both my ex and Ruby... So both my exes" He corrected himself with a pained face. "They both thought it was more important for me to have job security." He explained. "I guess I liked my job to much to risk it over some dream. But if I'm going to look for something else, why not take that chance. I hope you'll at least think about it." 

There was something in Sam's eyes that made Gabriel smile believe in tha idea as well. He could feel himself starting to stare again. Before the moment could grow too heavy, Gabriel smirked. "You just want to see me be uncomfortable in a suit around rich guys." He teased, glad to see Sam laugh.

"As funny as that sounds, that's only going to be a bonus." He grinned. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I've never seen you act uncomfortable around people for their status. Around Lucifer maybe, but that's more because he's an asshole." 

"I'm not going to argue with that." 

"Oh please don't." 

They laughed as Sam focussed on the task at hand again, screwing in the last screw to secure the side to the headboard. 

Gabriel followed his lead and continued and got back to it as well. He went over to collect the other side piece. "Don't worry." He answered as he put everything in polace. "I don't think anyone can change his opinion of me. Even if one of my friends is a lot more friendly with him than I thought." 

Sam grinned and screwed in the other side as well. "Yeah, that's still weird..."

"It's gross." Gabriel corrected him. "I sit across from Balth. How am I going to look at him without thinking about the fact that he and Lucifer definitely bang whenever Lucifer needs something fixed." 

"I guess he wasn't kidding when he talked about knowing how thick the walls are in the office." Sam laughed as he fixed the last piece in place as well. 

"The worst thing is how obvious it was in hignside." Gabriel said as Sam shook the finnished bed to see if it was sturdy.

"How so?" He asked, helping Gabriel move over the matress.

"Well a few months we came up with this bet, loser had to help Lucifer for a full year." 

"And whose idea was that?" 

"Thinking back, it was definitely Balth." Gabriel grinned as they lowered the mattress in place. "But ever since then, Lucifer's computer has been acting up a lot..." 

Sam just laughed at that. He put a hand on the matress to see if it was all good.

Gabriel took the less cautious approach as he let himself fall back on the bed. "This is pretty nice actually." 

"Scoot over." Sam told him. As soon as Gabriel did, Sam lay down next to him. It was pretty cramped on the small single bed, but Gabriel definitely didn't mind. His face was inches away from Sam like this. It felt intimate as Sam turned to face him. He could see Sam swallow hard as he studied Gabriel's face. " Yeah." He agreed. "Pretty nice." 

Gabriel wasn't sure how long the moment lasted, before he was able to think rationally again and break the magic. He sat up, too abruptly perhaps and looked at the startled Sam. Gabriel hadn't meant to shock the other, but he needed to do something to stop himself from wanting more. From giving in and closing the space between their lips. He couldn't do that to Sam. 

"Anyway..." He made an awkward attempt to climb out of the bed via the foot of the bed, but Sam got out quickly, letting him get up the usual way. "I was thinking, it's been a long day. A lot has happened... I'm pretty tired anyway... Would you mind if I call it an early night?" Gabriel knew he was rambling and Sam's embarrassed face communicated clearly that he wasn't buying the excuse to get out. 

Gabriel didn't blame him, of course his emotions were a bit of a mess. Gabriel's flirting probably hadn't helped either. 

Sam nodded. "Thanks for the help." He answered weakly before Gabriel left the room, closing the door behind him. He really wasn't sure what to make of all of it. Sam seemed interested, although that was most likely just because he was dealing with the break-up. Gabriel didn't think it was actually about him. The business proposal though, that didn't seem to be an inpulse desicion. Even if Gabriel wasn't sure, Sam seemed to believe in him. It felt nice knowing Sam trusted him and his skills enough to co found a business. 

As Gabriel lay in bed, way earlier than normal, Sam's words still played through his mind again. Sam was right about a few things. Gabriel was good at charming people most of the time, and he was proud of his coding skills. He still couldn't see himself running a company or reeling in customers. Although Gabriel liked attention in a way, he was comfortable away from the big spotlight. Then again, it might be okay to step into that spotlight if it was something he really cared about, like building his own applications. Or like Sam. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very sorry, life has been pretty busy, so this week will be late, hopefully friday. After that, back to our scheduled programming ;)


	12. Chapter 12

When Gabriel woke up on saturday, Sam was sitting on the couch in workout clothes. 

"Oh good you're up." Sam said turning towards him as soon as Gabriel opened the door to the livingroom. 

"Yeah, everything okay?" 

Sam smiled at him as he got up. "No I just thought, I wanted to take up my usual morning run again." 

Gabriel nodded. "Okay. I hope you weren't waiting for me to join, because I'm a terrible runner." He laughed, a bit unsure as to why Sam hadn't just gone out. 

"No, I was waiting for you to get up so I wasn't going to get locked out." 

Gabriel looked at him unsure, until he realized. "Oh, of course. I should have given you your own key weeks ago." Gabriel hurried over to the junk drawer in his kitchen to fish out a spare. 

Sam followed him. "Are you sure?"

"Of course. It's your house to for now. I can't believe you've been here for all this time without having your own key." He pressed the key into Sam's hand, who tightened a fist around it, grazing Gabriel's thumb with the hold. It was shocking still, to see how much those little tokens of trust still meant to Sam. 

"I guess we've been together pretty much all the time, so there wasn't any need for it." Sam smiled a lopsided smile, storing the key in some almost hidden zipper pocket of his work out pants. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Gabriel assured him softly. 

When Sam was out on his run, Gabriel took the time to look up what he would need to start a business. He was sure Sam had figured it all out, but he wanted to look it over himself, just to feel like he was more part of the creation. 

After lunch Sam told Gabriel he was going to work on his email to Ruby, the one telling her to leave his apartment. The email itself might not have an impact, but he needed it as proof if it ever came to a trial. Gabriel agreed and told Sam to get to it, assuring him he didn't mind doing the dishes by himself. 

After doing the washing up Gabriel went to the livingroom, watching the way Sam struggled with what to write. Gabriel had seen him work on notices before, he usually managed quite a few in the time they were supposed to work on the projects after hours. But this wasn't the same as a corporate email. This was personal. 

After Sam had spend about fifteen minutes staring at the screen and changing the level of formality in the the salutation, Gabriel decided it was time to help Sam with a little motivation. He knew Sam's favorite smoothie recipes by now, and Sam looked like he could use a treat. The other didn't seem to notice Gabriel leaving the room. He only looked up when Gabriel put a glass next to him. 

"You're an angel." Sam said as he looked into Gabriel's eyes. When he took a sip his smile widened. "Is this-?" 

Gabriel interjected with a smirk. "two bananas, a bit of mango and some spinach and kale. Blended in cocoswater." He summed it up proudly. "I know what you like." 

"Can I marry you?" Sam laughed.

"Not if that's how your proposing." Gabriel lifted a playful eyebrow that had Sam smiling as well. 

"I guess I'll have to work on my delivery." 

Gabriel snickered. "You better." He concluded as he looked over the email. It still only contained one line.   
_'Hello misses Ruby Kristy,'_

Gabriel put a hand on Sam's shoulder, feeling Sam's muscles relax under his touch. "Are you okay?" He asked, his voice a little softer than usual. 

Sam nodded. "It's just hard, it's like the last thing that keeps her in my life. Well, second to last." He admitted. "But at least I don't have to write a letter firing myself." 

Gabriel put his other hand on Sam's other shoulder, slowly rubbing them to get Sam to relax. Gabriel could feel the tension leaving at a touch alone, but the massage helped Sam relax even more. "Can't you forget it's her for a minute. Act like you're writing this to one of my exes maybe?" Gabriel suggested. Sam considered the idea before he started typing. Gabriel continued the massage. He liked being close to Sam, and this was one of the only ways that didn't leave him stressed out and longing like last night had. 

About ten minutes later Sam had a decent size email in front of him, laying out the terms. Ruby had to leave at the soonest possible moment after finding other accommodation with a maximum stay of one month. If she failed to do so, Sam would evict her. It was a smart move, that played in on the legal strategy Ruby intended to use. 

When Sam was done, he leaned back, eyes closed from the emotional effort. With the short back of the desk chair, Sam's head pressed against Gabriel's chest. They stayed like that for a little, touching, but not quite. Gabriel was the first to break away again. 

"Well, that worked better than expected." He muttered as he stepped back. 

Sam opened his eyes to look at Gabriel. "Thanks for distracting me a little." 

The tension was heavy, and Gabriel knew only one way to deal with an uncomfortable amount of tension. He smirked and winked. "Next time I'll do a striptease, see how distracted I can get you." 

With Sam's chuckle, all previous tension left the room and Gabriel suggested to game a little as a reward for writing the thing.

They spend most of their weekend either watching TV or playing games. Sam didn't mention the business plan again, and Gabriel was more than okay with that. He still needed some time to figure out what it was that he wanted.

That monday, Gabriel couldn't help but smirk when Balthazar asked him and Charlie about their weekend. Charlie talked about how she went to a convention and was now in the possession of the number of a really cute Codex cosplayer. They all loved stuff like that, so it was easy to fill about half an hour with stories about conventions and meet-ups. After discussing Charlie's weekend at length, she asked what the others had done.

Gabriel waited for Balthazar to go first. If Gabriel hadn't been sure already that Balthazar and Lucifer were sleeping together, Balthazar's description of the weekend sure would have confirmed it. He talked about how he had spend all of his time with some guy, spending most of their time in bed. Gabriel smirked wickedly. 

"How about you, Gabe? Any cute guys we need to know about?" Charlie asked. 

Balthazar grinned. "Or are you still pining for Sam?" 

That was the bait Gabriel had been waiting for. His friends still didn't know Sam was living with him, although he was pretty sure they had their suspicions. Still, he was careful with how he phrased his answer. "No, although we did both have to go to IKEA on friday. So we decided to carpool."

"Convenient." Balthazar teased. 

"Not really... I mean, we can't really go the one around the block, what if colleagues would see us." He stared at Balthazar who was visibly trying to look like he didn't care. Gabriel's smirk only grew. "So we went to the one in the next town over, much better to keep the rumours from spreading, don't you agree, Balth?" 

Balthazar had to unclench his jaw before answering. "Yes. It might be best not to have rumors floating around in the first place." 

"Agreed." Gabriel told him,adding a small nod to let his friend know his secret was safe. "But you know, Rumors are fun though." 

Charlie sighed. "Okay you two are definitely being weird, and I don't think I want to know what it is about." She turned to face her computer and continue her job. Balthazar gave Gabriel another look before returning to his spot as well. Gabriel knew he was going to have fun with this. 

Later that day he got a chance to mess with Balthazar again. Lucifer shot in a ticket, something about his settings being messed up. Gabriel had never questioned the fact that their CEO managed to run a a succesful business easily, but also happened to break something on his computer nearly every day, sometimes more than once. He had also never noticed how quickly and eagerly Balthazar got up to deal with it, but he did now. A grin spread across Gabriel's face as he got up as well. "I was thinking, you always have to go up there. You shouldn't suffer because you lost a silly bet years ago. Maybe I can help this time..." He looked the annoyed Balthazar over with amusement. He lifted an eyebrow. "Unless you want to go yourself, of course..." 

Balthazar grinned, meeting the challenge. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. "Oh by all means." He gestured to the door. Gabriel meant to provoke Balthazar, not to actually take the ticket. He looked a bit lost as he stared at the door. He couldn't back out now, even though he really didn't want to go. 

Charlie turned around, accompanying the motion with a loud sigh. "Unless you want to explain to Lucifer why his IT guy isn't up there, I think it's better Balth just goes up." She stated. 

Balthazar pushed himself off the wall. "I guess I'm going to have to do the hard work myself." He said as he walked out. Gabriel chuckled as Charlie turned around to go back to what she was doing.

Gabriel had expected to face consequences for what Sam had said to Ruby pretty quickly, but there was no news from HR at first. He had even passed Ruby in the hall once. Instead of confronting Gabriel, she walked passed him with a glare. Sam had sat in on a management meeting on thuesday where she barely raised any issues with Sam's input, and ignore him apart from that.

Apparently she did have something cooking up. Around lunchtime on Wednesday, Charlie let out an excited "Yes!" from behind her desk. Balthazar and Gabriel were both at her side in no time. 

"What?" 

"Guys, I'm not sure who sacrificed a virgin or sold their soul to the devil, but a miracle has happened." She grinned, rolling away from the desk so the others could real the email that was open on her screen. 

Gabriel could feel the blood drain from his face as he read what had made Charlie so excited. It was an email from Ruby, asking Charlie to read over the job offer for a new IT hire. At first glance, it did seem like amazing news. Charlie had been requesting an extra hire for months now. They had always been short staffed, and there was just too much work for two people. Charlie had to step in and work on tickets next to her managerial duties, just to keep up. And even then, they still fell behind sometimes. 

The email, however didn't mention the team was going to be expanded exactly. It simply said that they would be looking for an extra hire and that Charlie had to plan some time to train them. The new person had to be fully operational within two months. 

Gabriel's heart broke. Charlie seemed so happy about the news, but Gabriel knew what it really meant. They wanted to hire someone to replace him that would be fully trained by the time Gabriel's annual review was planned. It wasn't like he had expected to stay after that, but every confirmation seemed like another nail in his coffin. Especially since Charlie really seemed proud to have finally gotten what she had asked for all the time. 

Gabriel broke free of his thoughts as he heard Balthazar laugh while patting his shoulder. "Oh cheer up, Gabriel. I know she was like your love rival or something, but even you can admit she's done a good thing here." 

Gabriel sighed, looking at his friends. Balthazar looked amused more than anything. He probably thought Gabriel was only upset because Ruby was Sam's girlfriend or ex-girlfriend, depending on how much Lucifer had shared with him. Charlie on the other hand looked worried. All the previous excitment had been swepted away. "Gabe, are you okay?" 

He couldn't keep them in the dark, this would affect them as well. "She'd firing me..." 

"What?" Charlie asked, moving over to read through the email again. "What makes you think that?" 

Gabriel doubted whether or not to tell his friends about why Ruby hated him so much. He hadn't told them because it was just between him and Sam. But now that it was having an impact at work, it was only fair to his team to share what was going on. At least in regards to him getting fired. "To keep it short, Sam and Ruby have broken up some time ago, and Ruby pretty much blames me for their break up." 

"Why you?" Charlie asked before her eyes grew. "Has Sam cheated with you?" She asked, and Gabriel was sure this was one of the few times Charlie's surprise was genuine. She usually figured things out pretty fast. 

Gabriel shook his head. "Nothing like that.. I mean, he wouldn't, and neither would I. But uh, apparently she thought there was more going on. It doesn't help that Sam has been living with me for almost two weeks now.

Apparently Charlie hadn't figured that one out either. Her eyes went wide. "You mean, he moved in with you? Why?" 

Gabriel shrugged. "Ruby refuses to leave his apartment and he needed somewhere to stay." 

"Isn't he like crazy rich, he can afford a hotel right?" 

"I didn't want him to have to do that. And he likes living with me. I like living with him." Gabriel rolled his eyes as Charlie lifted an eyebrow in responce. "Don't give me that face, I'm just helping out a friend."

"And losing your job over it." Balthazar argued.

Gabriel sighed. "I know. I mean, it's not like I loved this job in the first place, but I am going to miss you guys." 

Charlie shook her head. "If you want to stay, I'm going to fight for that. You are part of my team and you're not going to be replaced." She insisted. "I can at least clear it up first, maybe it's not even like that. I mean, I've been asking for the expansion for ages." 

Charlie's face was telling, showing how little she herself believed this was just a sudden change of heart. 

"Char..." Gabriel shook his head, before looking into her eyes. "Don't. You don't want to be hin her bad book." He hated being the bearer of bad news. He also knew he didn't want Charlie to weaken her position in the company even more trying to stop the inevitable. Ruby wasn't going to be stopped but at least now they were prepared. 

Balthazar put a hand on Gabriel shoulder. The gesture surprised Gabriel. "I can, you know, see if we can't work something out." He said softly. He looked uncomfortable as he suggested it, and Gabriel wondered if Balthazar had ever used his relationship with Lucifer to his advantage before. Seeing their understaffed, pushed away, band of misfits team, he suspected Balthazar had been pretty clear about not wanting any favours like that. 

The offer shocked Gabriel even more, if that was the case. He hadn't expected Balth to cross a line like that, not for him. Although he did consider Balthazar to be a friend, they mainly showed it by teasing each other, nothing as sincere as what Balthazar just offered.

Gabriel shook his head. Charlie seemed to agree. Without even knowing what Balthazar meant, she interjected. "The only one that's going to work something out is me." 

Gabriel shook his head. "I appreciate it both, really. But I don't think she is going to bail on this. Let's just be grateful she is allowing a replacement, instead of just expecting you two to share the work. I'll be fine." He assured his friends. "Sam has brought up the idea of maybe starting a business or something. I think I might take him up on it." 

Charlie looked impressed, although the anger and frustration hadn't left her completely. Gabriel smiled softly. "Promise me you're not going to fight with Ruby," He switched to look at Balthazar. "Or anybody else, over this."

His friends agreed, clearly not happy about it. "Good." He smiled. "Besides, I still have two months to work on driving you absolutely insane."

Balthazar smirked, as he retreated back into his usual persona. "You don't need two months for that."

At the end of the day, when Sam and Gabriel met up in his office, Gabriel told Sam about the email. Sam nodded. "I've been told to start training my right hand man to take over all my tasks, apparently Ruby is afraid we'll have no replacement if 'something' were to happen." He rolled his eyes. "She's not even trying to hide it." 

Gabriel pulled at his hoodie. "About that... I couldn't leave Charlie and Balthazar in the dark. They thought they were getting an extra team member." 

Sam smiled, understanding Gabriel immediately. "It's okay you told them. How did Balthazar react to the news about Ruby and Lucifer?" 

"I didn't tell them everything. I mean they do know you guys broke up and that you're living with me for a bit. They don't know the reason behind the break up. Honestly, I don't think he'd mind. I mean, knowning Balth, this is just a friends with benefits kind of thing." 

Sam nodded. "That's fine. Honestly. And you're right, they have a right to know when it affects work." 

Gabriel was grateful Sam didn't seem to mind the way he spilled his secret. "I was thinking, maybe tonight, we can work a bit on ideas for the new business?" 


	13. Chapter 13

It had been two weeks since Gabriel accepted Sam's idea to start a business together. After that, the two of them spend most of their time outside of work discussing their strategy and working on their unique selling point. Gabriel had first assumed they would come up with those things as they went, not before they even started. 

Apparently that wasn't exactly how it worked. Although they always had the possibility to change strategies if they wanted to change something, they wouldn't be able to attract any big investors without a concrete plan. That included a strong, marketable name. They had several ideas ideas, although Sam refused to consider 'Morningstar st-inc. s' as a valid option. 

Gabriel was glad Sam was his business partner for several reasons. One of them being that Sam knew a lot more about the world of investors and how to cater to big potential clients. He also knew a lot more about the legal side of things of course. The day after he pitched his idea to Gabriel, he filed for a patent on the sourcecode of their software. Just in case Gabriel wanted to go through with it. They received a response that morning, saying the patent was approved. 

Through Gabriel's personal research, he had learned ho big of a deal that was. But if he hadn't, he would have been able to read it from Sam's expresion alone. 

"We need to celebrate!" Sam said after he showed Gabriel the email. 

"What kind of celebration are we talking about, Whiskey and Netflix or confetti-poppers and friends?" 

"I was actually thinking, maybe I can take you to dinner somewhere nice?" 

"Where?" They had delibradly been careful about being seen together, due to rumours that might spread. 

"There's this great little restaurant, pretty close to you actually." He said. If Gabriel didn't know any better, he'd say Sam seemed a bit nervous asking him. "We don't have to go there if you don't want to, but I always liked the food a lot. And I also want to treat you to something special after everything you did for me." 

Gabriel smiled softly. "You know that's not necessary right? And it might lead to people seeing us together. I mean, if it's one of the restaurants you used to go to, doesn't that mean that there might be people there that know you?" 

"Probably." Sam nodded. "But that doesn't have to be a bad thing anymore. After all, it might be best to start showing our faces to investors and maybe even clients. If anyone has questions, we can just tell them about the company we're starting. I wanted to start doing that a little later, but it's a good enough excuse to take you out, don't you think?" 

Gabriel was pretty sure that teasing grin and those mischievous eyes would be the death of him. He had noticed that Sam had been flirting with him more and more each passing week. It almost felt like a game, were both of them were trying to outdo the other. 

"No need to make up all these excuses to take me on a date, Sam." He grinned. "Just tell me when to be ready." 

They made plans for seven and Sam called right away to make a reservation. From the way Sam talked about the place, Gabriel figured he might want to dress up for the occasion. He settled on a nice button up with a black blazer and black dress pants. It was the most 'formal' outfit he owned and he usually reserved it only for weddings.

When he entered the livingroom to meet Sam, Gabriel was blown away. Sam always wore a suit to work, but this was next level. From the fitted suit jacket to the crisp white shirt and patterned bow tie. Sam looked like he had walked right out of a magazine. Gabriel felt very underdressed all of a sudden. It was a surprise when Sam told him "You look amazing." With a sort of admiration in his voice Gabriel didn't feel like he deserved.

"You're one to talk." He let out in a huff as he stepped closer. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to impress me." He teased. And whether or not it was true, it was working.

Sam simply chuckled instead of answering. "Let's go. It isn't far from here. We can just walk." 

There was something special about being with Sam in public that thrilled Gabriel. After all their sneaking around and well set boundaries, the idea of being seen with Sam made Gabriel nervous in the best possible way. They didn't even go grocery shopping together in case they were spotted and now they were walking around, happily chatting and both dressed to impress. 

Sam led Gabriel to the restaurant he had been talking about. He had warned him that it might be a bit to extravagant for Gabriel's tastes, and one look at the building was enough to agree that Sam had been right about that. The place looked like a mix between a modern villa and a medieval castle. The entryway was made up out of a large arch in white brick, leading to the open double doors. 

Sam didn't seem phased at all by the impressive building, he barely even seemed to notice how over the top it looked. Gabriel suddenly wondered if it was too late to turn around. He wasn't like Sam. He didn't belong in a place like this. As Gabriel stood stuck in place, with Sam patiently waiting next to him, a group of four approached the doorman. They looked like they belonged. The two man in suits resembling the one Sam was wearing, the woman both in shiny dresses, high heels, perfect makeup and jewelry that looked like it would cost half of Gabriel's monthly pay. 

Gabriel swallowed as he looked up at Sam. Why would the other think it was a good idea to take Gabriel to a place like this. Sam gave him a small smile. "It's all just people." He reminded him. "You okay to go in?" 

Gabriel nodded, trying to calm himself and push away his doubt. He felt Sam put a hand on the small of his back before shooting him a reassuring smile and leading the both of them to the doorman. As soon as Sam appeared, the doorman looked at the list. "Is it under Winchester?" He asked after Sam greeted him. 

"It is." Sam nodded with a friendly smile. As the man looked for their reservation, Sam started a little conversation. Gabriel joined in, feeling more at ease already. He was grateful Sam didn't move away from him, instead keeping his hand in place to guide Gabriel until the arrived at their table. When he removed the hand so they could get seated, his swift smile made Gabriel blush. 

The interior of the restaurant lined up neatly with the expectations the exterior brought about. It had a high ceiling, with intricate chandeliers hanging from them. The whole right side of the wall was stocked with bottles of wine and the tables were very spaced apart with lots of plants creating little sections and giving an illusion of privacy. As soon as the guy at the door left to resume his post, a waiter showed up. 

"Can I get you two anything to start with?"

"Xavier, it's been a while, how have you been?" 

"Very well. The renovations are almost done, so that is a big plus. How about you?" 

"Oh that's great. Just in time to enjoy the garden." He smiled. "Can I get a Brachetto d'Acqui for my partner and a Travis Sauvignon Blanc for me?" 

"Of course." The waiter gave sam a short nod before heading off. Before Gabriel could ask Sam what he had just ordered, an stern looking woman made her way over to them. When she saw Sam she smiled slightly, although she didn't say a word. She poured Gabriel a red wine with a light sparkle and Sam a white one. Sam thanked her before she left. 

"I could get used to you taking control like that." Gabriel smirked before picking up his glass. "So, why this one for me?" He asked, since he was pretty sure that's what pretentious people did. The smell reminded him faintly of strawberries and roses.

Sam chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind." He promised before looking at Gabriel's drink. "The one I ordered you, the Branchetto d'acqui," He repeated, like Gabriel would actually remember, "is a more gentle wine. It's a bit too sweet for my taste, but I'm convinced you will love it." 

"You know a lot about these things..." 

"After years of practice." Sam added. He lifted his glass and Gabriel copied the motion. "Let's drink to new opportunities." Sam suggested.

Gabriel smiled as he cheered with Sam, before taking a sip. The wine was sweet, just like Sam promised. It was like red fruit dipped in sugar, almost candy like.

Sam looked at him with expecting eyes. "How do you like it?"

"I'm going to have you order for me more often." Gabriel told him, making Sam smile. 

"Any allergies, anything you really don't like?" 

Gabriel had meant it as a joke, but he was sort of glad that Sam took it seriously. "No, anything is fine." 

"Anything it is." Sam grinned and called over their waiter. 

Gabriel smiled as Sam ordered the two of them the five course surprise meal with a matching selection of wines. 

As they waited for the first course, Sam pointed out some things in the restaurant and why he loved them. Gabriel loved hearing him talk about it. He'd been a little insecure about being there, afraid that he wouldn't be able to adjust if this what the sort of venue he had to be in, to be with people that could make or break the business. Sam had him focus on other things, things that didn't feel like you had to have at least two houses to enjoy the luxury. 

He talked about how the mostly had plants with larger heavy leaves, because they blocked sound in a natural way and made the place a lot less noisy. How they only used local farmers where possible and how they were all proudly displayed on the website. How the waiters always recognized him, and changed their approach depending on who he was there with. 

Gabriel was completely caught up in Sam's story when Sam suddenly stopped. Xavier and the woman from earlier were standing at their table. The served them their meal and replaced their empty wine glasses with new ones before he stood back. "This is a pumpkin based bisque with notes of vanilla and a splash of thym." He declared as soon as the two were looking at him. The thick orange soup was served in what looked like a large spoon.

The woman that had poured them wine earlier added. "It is paired with a Vidal-Fleury Blanc from 2017." She showed both of them the label on the bottle. Gabriel wasn't sure if he was supposed to pretend he knew french, so he just stared at the text until it seemed like enough time had passed. "Uh thanks." 

She held the bottle out to Sam who glanced it over quickly before nodding. That seemed to do the trick as well as she pulled it back and started speaking. "Vidal-Fleury Blanc is, just like it's more well known red counterpart, made from grapes growing in the Côtes du Rhône region in France. The Marsanne and Roussanne species used to make Vidal-Fleury Blanc form a complex pallet with hints of apricot, pear, sweet almonds and honey. Would you like a tasting first?" 

Gabriel listened to her explanation, wondering if he was supposed to ask questions at the end. He looked at Sam who smiled up at her. "Please." He agreed for both of them, and Gabriel couldn't help but smile at the way Sam took charge. It reminded him of how Sam reacted to anything involving the law or legal issues.

The woman poured them both a very small serving of wine as Xavier made his way to the next table. 

Sam smiled at Gabriel before looking at the woman. "Maria, I hope you don't mind talking us through this one? My partner is pretty new to wine tasting and I could use a refresher myself." 

Maria's stern look turned into a bright smile. "Of course not. There is a wine tasting on the twenty-fifth if you guys are interested. I can ask Gerald to put you on the list." 

"Gabe, do you have any plans for the twenty-fifth?"

"I'm guessing my plan is to go to a winetasting?" Gabriel replied with a slight grin.

"If you want." 

When Gabriel agreed Sam asked Maria to put both of them on the list. 

"Of course, for now, let's get a taste of what it'll be like." He said, making Gabriel laugh at her play on words. She talked the both of them through the tasting, explaining every step as they went along. Gabriel never really understood why people went through so many steps to taste wine. Tasting was easy, either you liked something or you didn't. 

He kept his oppinion to himself, seeing the joy Maria had in instructing them. When they finished the taster, Sam asked Gabriel if he liked the wine and as soon as he said yes he asked for two glasses. 

Once they were alone again, he caught Sam smiling at him. "See, I told you. You just like seeing me in situations I'm not supposed to be in." 

"No. You just remind me of how I was first time I walked in here." Sam admitted as he looked around the room. "I know it's a bit of a shift from what you're used too, but there are good things about it as well. As much as I like take out and cheap Whiskey, this is where I go to really indulge." He seemed to trail off for a second before continuing with excitement in his eyes. "Go on, have a taste." 

Gabriel looked at the spoon like bowl and lifted an eyebrow. "Is this also a taster to see if we want more soup?" He joked. He knew fancy restaurants were known for serving small portions, but it was almost humorous to get only one spoon of soup for a whole course. 

Sam laughed. "I know the portion sizes seem pretty much a like a joke if you're not used to it. I don't know, I don't really mind it. Every dish is perfect, bursting with a combination or flavours and textures that take ages to perfect." 

Gabriel squinted at him. It was just soup. _One spoon_ of soup. 

Sam still looked amused. "Trust me, just taste it." 

Gabriel did as he was told, drinking about half of it. 

Sam looked at him expectingly and Sam had to give it to him. 

"Okay this is amazing." He admitted reluctantly. "It's still not filling though." 

"You don't go to a place like this because you're hungry." Sam told him, starting on his own soup. A look of pure bliss washed over him as ate and Gabriel wondered how often Sam went to places like this before everything changed. Sam sighed contently. "Most people I know end a night like this with a trip to the snackbar, or a complete bag of chips at home."

"Rich people are weird." Gabriel laughed in responce. 

"You have no idea." Sam agreed amused.

With how Sam was most of the time, it was hard to remember he was also been at the top of a successful business. He had made a life for himself, surrounded by power structures and luxury, but it had never changed him into someone that looked down on the simpler pleasures of life. The guy that loved take out noodles and videogames was the same guy that knew a lot about wine and restaurant etiquette. Gabriel hummed amused at that idea. 

Once they were done with the wine and food both, Xavier came to ask if they were ready for the next course. Sam told him they were and turned to Gabriel after Xavier returned to the kitchen. "I didn't grow up like this either, you know. I was brought up in a salvage yard, learning how to fix cars." Sam told him, a distant smile on his face before his eyes fell on the wall of wine bottles. "Now I can tell you which grapes grow in which regions and hold a conversation about the differences between regular and winter Basil." 

"So, is this how you impress all the girls now?" He grinned before taking another sip of wine. 

Sam chuckled. "I don't think I'm that interested in impressing any girls for now." 

After a short silence, during which Sam wasn't shy about studying Gabriel's face, he continued. "I'm just saying, this doesn't come natural to anybody, it's all an act. But there are aspects to it you can enjoy."

"It doesn't seem like you're just putting up an act. It's like you belong right here." 

"Practice." Sam revealed, just as Xavier returned. 

When they were al set with new food and wine, Gabriel felt like he could talk freely again. "Why would you need to practice how to be in a restaurant?" 

Sam shrugged. "Because it's all part of the image you can built for yourself. I know it's ridiculous, but that's just how it works. The first time I came here, Lucifer had invited me to discus my contract over dinner. I thought he was just showing of after he had inherited the company, but it was all a planned effort." 

"How?" 

"Remember how you felt when you stood in front of the building, wondering if you belonged..." Sam asked and Gabriel nodded, not even a little surprised that Sam had noticed. "He made sure I doubted myself the entire time. He made me choose the wine, then tutted and changed the order, because I should know that it didn't fit the dish. He never started eating before I did, just to see me struggle trying to eat the more experimentally served courses. When I excused myself to go to the bathroom, he warned me not to make eyecontact while walking through the restaurant, since I would probably be confused with a waiter in a suit as cheap as this." 

Gabriel was surprised. Not that Lucifer would do such a thing, but that he had planned it out so precisely. He couldn't imagine what that must have felt like. Gabriel felt out of place as it was, and that was with Sam guiding him through everything. "I'm guessing that wasn't great for your negotiation?" 

"It was terrible. The only thing that got me through the experience at all was that Xavier took pity on me. When I walked back to the table, he stopped me in the hallway. Apparently it was the fifth time they had seen Lucifer treat someone like that. He told me all the upcoming courses and wines, with little pointers on how to handle things." 

"So we're actually here so you can train me to respond to those things in the right way?" Gabriel asked with a suspicious smirk.

Sam shook his head. "No. We are here because I wanted to take you out and I wanted to celebrate. Because despite how overwhelming this place is, it also has amazing food and an excellent selection of wine. And it's special to me." Sam told him. 

"Good." Gabriel smiled. "Now let's talk about something else." He suggested, switching to a conversation about what gemes he planned on buying and wether or not they had a multiplayer mode. Sam didn't argue with him, but fully engaged. It made Gabriel feel like he was on steady ground again. 

Just after their third course, a woman approached them. She was small, but she carried herself like the whole room was watching her. They might be. She looked like a pure image of power. Her hair a fiery red, a few shades darker than her jumpsuit. Gabriel doubted whether or not she was actually headed for them, Until she made it very clear. When she stopped by their table, Sam smiled at her. 

"Samuel." There was a fondness hidden in her distinct scottish accent. "I was afraid my night was going to be dreadfully boring, but than I spotted you and your companion." She pulled up a chair and joined them. Gabriel was pretty sure that wasn't really allowed either in a place like this, but no one seemed to even glance at her casual indiscresion. 

Sam smiled wider as the woman sat down. "Rowena, I haven't seen you in ages. How has your trip been?" He turned to Gabriel. "Rowena, this is Gabriel Novak. Gabriel, Rowena MacLeod. A friend of Lucifer." 

"Friend, well that is an interesting way to put." She hummed, quickly signalling a waiter. "I'd be surprised if that man has any friends at all." 

Gabriel could help but Chuckle and Sam smirked. "She helped with the transfer of Morningstar Inc. from Lucifer's father to him." He clarified. 

"Dreadful. At least Samuel was there to keep me sane, weren't you Sam?" 

"I don't think you need anyone else keeping you sane." Sam laughed.

"Oh I know, but I'm still glad you were there." The waiter she had flagged earlier came over to deliver her a glass of wine, appearingly knowing what she wanted to order. "Thank you, dear. Now how about you pour these good men some wine on my behalf?" Without a question, two more glasses appeared and were filled.

She turned to Gabriel, who admiddedly admired the way she carried herself. "Gabriel, Good to meet you. I have to say, you've chosen quite the companion. I myself am still waiting for Samuel here to ask me out for dinner." Her voice was a playful tease. "Have you seen the brains on this kid. I've been telling him from the start he should leave that place for what it is and start something new." 

"Apparently it took him some time to follow through..." Gabriel grinned as he looked at Sam. "But better late than never." 

She lifted her glass to her lips, but stopped at the comment. With a raised eyebrow she looked at Sam. "Is that so?" 

"I should have introduced you earlier, my mistake." Sam apologized. "Gabriel is my new business partner." 

"Business partner?" Rowena echoed. "And you didn't consider giving me a call? I'm hurt Samuel, you know I'd be able to help you boys along a little." 

"I was planning to give you a call once we had a little more to talk about. We're actually here to celebrate we've gotten the patent to the base code Gabriel built. It's to do with cyber security." 

"So you're still taking your first steps together?" Rowena seemed intrigued. "Do you have other investors lined up yet?"

Gabriel's ears perked at the phrase. So Rowena was an investor herself. More than that, she seemed pretty interested. 

"Not yet." Sam answered in level headed tone. "We're still working on the plan, but we can do a meet up in less than a month with the current schedule." 

"As soon as you have all the pieces give me a call so we can see if I can make you an offer. I want to be the first one to be called." She said, handing over her business card. 

She stayed around for a little while, talking about a trip she'd been on. She told Sam that he still had an outstanding invitation to spend a week in her castle in Scotland with that girl of his. 

"We broke up actually." Sam informed her. 

Rowena smiled. "Good. I couldn't stand that jealous wrench... I much prefer your current company." She winked at Gabriel. "Offer still stands. I'm sure the two of you could have a nice retreat, talking about business among other things." 

She swirled her wine glass thoughtfully as she cast a look between the two men. "I think it's time for me to go back to the board meeting I came here for. Now you better call me to set something up. I trust that brain of yours and I'm not missing out on a chance to invest. 

"You've got it. Thanks Rowena." 

"Anything for you Samuel." She assured him before going back to the table she came from. 

Gabriel looked at Sam with big eyes. "You really weren't kidding about having to get our face out there." Gabriel said, still a little surprised. "Did she just offer to invest?" 

Sam smiled. "She did. Well she offered to look at our plan, but I think we can get her in if we work on the pitch." 

"That's amazing..." Gabriel said, the news not fully setting in yet. Even though they were taking real steps, the idea of starting a business still seemed like more of a far away dream, instead of a current reality. "I didn't think this was the kind of place were badmouthed Lucifer." 

"With money like that, you can do pretty much do whatever you want. And she definately does." He chuckled. "I mean she worked hard to earn it." 

"Oh?" 

"She grew up in some small village in Scotland with nothing, but she's always been savvy. Worked her way up with investments and made sure she met the right people. If she decides to invest, she's definitely got some good advice for us. She knows quite a lot of people as well, so that will help."

"You seem to know her pretty well." 

"Like I said, Lucifer brought me on when he got the company, and Rowena was there to help with that whole deal, so we had a lot of meetings. With things like that, there is always a lot of legal stuff. And I was just some guy, straight out of college with to much responcibilities and no idea what was going on. She pretty much coached me on how to stay afloat in a world of sharks."

Gabriel sighed. "I didn't imagine so much of this journey would be about things like that. I don't think I'm fit for a world like that. Are you sure this is going to work out?" He wondered. "Maybe you should handle the business side of things alone, and I'll just be the pretty face, coding in a corner." He suggested. He wanted to be part of it, but he'd just drag Sam down.

Sam shook his head. "I'm not going to put your pretty face in the corner, and I want you as my partner. I know it seems like a lot at once, but we can take it in small steps. And believe me, the pretty face really helps in this word." Sam grinned with a wink.

"Sam Winchester, if you keep flirting with me I might even take it seriously some day..." Gabriel teased. It wasn't a total lie, maybe it could even be considered a warning. 

Sam didn't seem faced by the comment. He looked straight into Gabriel's eyes. "Good." 

"Yeah?" 

"Yeah." 

Gabriel grinned. He hadn't expected Sam to actually be interested at all, but who was he to disagree with Sam's own words. Sam smiled as well, like he had finally been able to say something he had been trying to make clear all this time. 

When Sam seemed to realize he had gotten his point across, he picked the conversation back up, talking about what they should get ready for the investormeeting with Rowena. Gabriel let the topic change, but he couldn't help but feel a little burst of happiness everytime Sam smiled at him. 

As they walked home, Gabriel grinned up at Sam. "So how about those pointers on how to eat better next time?" 

Sam smiled back. "Let's not focus on that stuff tonight. Lets just enjoy our win. We might have an investor, that's huge." 

"I still can't believe all we had to do was go to a fancy restaurant once. Now be honest, did you know she'd be there?" 

"I thought she was still in Bali, so no. I just wanted to show you this life a bit, and show them you as well. This does mean we might have to speed up our planning." Sam admitted. 

"How? We already spend most of our free time working on SG." 

"I was thinking about expanding my free time." Sam admitted with a nervous grin.

"You mean-" 

"Yeah, I know I said I'd wait until they kick me out, but I can't stand working there any longer. This is the perfect reason to quit." Sam insisted. 

Gabriel nodded as he thought it over. "It's going to be weird." 

"I'm not asking you to do the same. I know you don't want to leave your team." 

"I don't, but I do want to be part of this company with everything I have."

"Are you sure?" 

"No, but I guess I'm taking a risk. Besides, I still have to complete two more weeks after quitting, so it won't be like I'm leaving at once." He said to ensure Sam it was okay, and to comfort himself in thinking it was.

When they got home, Gabriel suggested watching something on Netflix before bed. He already went to grab a bag of chips, because he at least needed a little snack to actually feel a little more full. 

Sam agreed as he petted the cats. Beanie went straight for the couch, looking at Sam to see if he'd follow. Sam smiled, shrugging off his tailored jacket and loosening his bowtie before he let himself fall back onto the couch so Beanie could make herself comfortable on his lap. Sam selected _'The Legend of Korra'_ which Gabriel had convinced him they should watch together. Gabriel joined him with a bag of chips in his hands and Mittens following him out the kitchen. "Good choice." He approved as he sat down next to Sam, close enough for their legs to touch. 

Sam looked at him for a second before he started speaking. "I really enjoyed going to dinner tonight." He admitted in a soft voice, fidgeting with his hands a little. He sighed, but Gabriel could tell he wasn't done speaking yet. After a short silence, Sam smiled tensely. "I know now is kind of a messed up time. But do you think, somewhere in the future, I could ask you out on a real date?" 

Gabriel could feel his heart melt at the question. It sounded so sincere. "I'd like that." 

"Me too." Sam agreed before he slowly put an arm around Gabriel, focussing back on the screen. Gabriel let out a satisfied laugh as he rested his head against Sam's shoulder. 


	14. Chapter 14

Gabriel was surprised when Sam didn't drop him off at their usual place the next monday, but instead drove past it, going straight for the office. "I think you missed a turn." Gabriel told him.

Sam smiled at him. "Listen. If we are both going to turn in our two weeks notice today, there's not a lot they can do to us for showing up together." He paused for a second and Gabriel could tell Sam was watching his from the corner of his eyes. "Unless it makes you uncomfortable." 

"I don't get uncomfortable easily." Gabriel assured him. He thought back about their time time at the restaurant with a sheepish smile and added, "Well, not by this stuff anyway." 

"Good." Sam chuckled. After they drove into the parkinglot, Sam let out a satisfied sigh. "I can't believe I'm actually handing in my resignation today. This is the start of something good." 

Gabriel looked at him. He loved that confident smile that Sam showed more and more with each passing week. "It is. It's still weird to leave my team." Gabriel admitted, before Sam placed a comforting hand on his knees. 

After the dinner, they had been more liberal with little touches. Gabriel could still drown in each and everyone of them. He gave Sam a reassuring smile. "I'm fine." He assured him. "The new guy is coming in a few days, and I figured I can just ask Charlie what would fit best with her plans. Maybe I can stay an extra week or so to help out while they're teaching the kid. Maybe do some half days, so I still have time to work at home afterwards." 

Sam nodded as he squeeze the knee before letting go. "That's actually a really good idea."

It felt kind of nice to walk into the building with Sam next to him, instead of being dropped off a few streets down like they were having some secret affair. Gabriel's smile soon vanished as he saw a familiar face standing at the reception desk. Of course _she_ would be the first person they saw.

Ruby's eyes grew wide as she saw the two men entering together. She promptly cut the conversation with the receptionist short to make her way over to them with long strides and an ice cold gaze. "You two have some fucking balls." She spit out. It was clear she tried, and failed to keep her voice down. The lady in reception looked up with interest. 

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at Ruby. If she wanted a confrontation, she could have it. There was nothing this woman could do to hurt them anymore now that they were leaving. "I'm well aware." He grinned, just to piss her off. 

"What do you want Ruby?" Sam asked as he crossed his arms, his tone more annoyed than shocked. 

"What do I want? Let's talk about what you fucking want instead." She looked at Gabriel. It wasn't just disgust, there was a hatred inside her eyes that almost scared Gabriel. "Really him... And then you take this into here, to what, taunt me?" 

If anything, Gabriel was surprised about how loud she was being. He hadn't expected her to hash out their problems in public. She was usually so intent on keeping her reputation squeaky clean, something must have really been wrong for her to put that on the line. They had barely done anything, just walked in together.

Sam exhaled slowly, trying and failing to hold his calm composure it seemed like. The lady at reception was staring now, as were the few people that had been walking through the entrance hall, most of them lingered to see what the commotion was about. The attention didn't stop Ruby from taking a step closer, challenging the two of them with an intense look. With her five foot three and slim posture, she shouldn't look as intimidating as she did. Gabriel was briefly reminded of his encounter with Rowena, and how the admittedly shorter woman had seemed to hold a power and a strength that didn't fully fit her posture. 

But that wasn't what this was. Rowena's power had been elegant, natural yet calculated. She didn't look like she was trying to prove something. Ruby on the other hand commanded dominance in her stance and with the rage in her eyes. She looked like she was ready for battle. Body centered and chin up.

Sam responded likewise, taking a step closer and strategically placing at least half of himself between Gabriel and Ruby. She let out a small huff as she noticed, lifting an eyebrow at Gabriel. Sam looked tense, his eyes shooting over to Gabriel before he went back to keeping an eye on Ruby. "You don't want to do this Ruby. Not here." 

"You know what I don't want?" She asked in a loud hiss. "I don't want to watch you come in here like a happy couple with the guy you're fucking to get back at me. You know, I could have you fired right now for sleeping with a subordinate. I could have both of you gone by the end of the day." Small gasps emerged from the crowd that had formed around them and a low mutter filled the air. Sam's expression didn't change, but Ruby smirked. She looked vindicated by the scandalized murmur. 

"Admit it, Sam. You're a pathetic excuse of a man. Barely a man at all." She looked at him, studying him as she played with her ring. 

Sam's hardened exterior broke. Years of being told he wasn't good enough, that everything was his fault, it all came back. His shoulders slumped for a second and that was all Ruby needed. 

A hand moved rapidly in the air. Before Gabriel was fully aware of what had happened, he heard a hollow thud, followed by gasps from the crowd. He saw Sam trying to clutch his forehead, eyes closed as he screamed in agony, blood already running down the side of his head.

Even as he tried to defend himself, he moved in front of Gabriel as fast as he could, his free hand blocking him as his body leaned in to do the same. Before he gasped for air and fell to the ground on his knees, doubling over. 

There were two people at Ruby's side, holding her back from attacking again. One of them was Balthazar, he didn't know the other person. He didn't care about that at the moment, He just needed to make sure Sam was doing okay. He kneeled next to him.

Sam looked barely conscious. He was still gasping as he clutched his head and stomach both. There was blood dripping from the side of his face, the skin under it was already starting to swell. Ruby had gone for the weak spots. A well aimed hit to Sam's temple with the stone of her ring and a forceful knee between his legs. Gabriel wasn't sure any guy would be able to stand after that. 

"Sam." Gabriel called, trying to get his attention. He didn't know a lot about how to deal with injuries, but he was pretty sure he was supposed to keep Sam conscious, especially after a possible brain injury. Sam looked at him though his right eye. He was barely able to even open the left one with the swell of his face. Luckily someone hurried over with a first aid kit. Some people just lingered, watching as Sam lay there, others scattered like they hadn't seen anything. Gabriel noticed Balthazar typing away on his phone now That Ruby seemed to have calmed down a little. 

Her lip was quivering as the men she supposedly loved was in front of her, bleeding and in pain. But her eyes still had that dark look, like she believed this was some sort of justice.

The man with the first aid told Sam move the hand out of the way to let him look at the cut on his face. Gabriel didn't care about the prying eyes. When Sam reached the bloody hand out to hold Gabriel's, Gabriel took it, softly rubbing the back of it with his thumb. The man asked Sam a few questions to examine his mental state, like what year it was and the answer to 13 plus 26. Gabriel stayed silent as the other questioned Sam and cleaned the sharp cut the stone on Ruby's ring left. He didn't want to add another thing for Sam to focus on.

"Oh come on, he's a big guy. It's not that bad." Ruby sighed, although there was an undeniable tremble in her voice. "It's not like I hit his boyfriend. Sam's strong."

Gabriel looked up at her, glaring. "You shut up right now." He said, feeling anger sore through him. He was more than ready to give her a piece of his mind, but he felt Sam squeeze his hand. 

"Don't." It was a soft, broken mutter, but it was enough for Gabriel to hold himself back.

Before Ruby could respond, the elevator opened. Gabriel barely registered the sound until he heard Lucifer's voice booming over the murmur that was by now filling the entrence hall.

"Really, you've resorted to punching" Lucifer asked unimpressed as he stepped out. Ruby gave him a dark look, but he was having none of it. He didn't even spare her a second look, instead turning to Sam.

"Are you okay, can you get up?" He asked in a voice Gabriel barely recognized. It was almost like he cared. Almost.

Sam nodded softly, before cringing at the feeling the movement gave him.

"I'm taking that as a no." He looked at Balthazar. "Can you call the police and an ambulance, just in case?" 

Balthazar nodded as he started dialing. 

Ruby scoffed. "Oh come on, Sam's a grown man. I barely-" 

"Up to my office." Lucifer ordered, promptly cutting her off. 

Ruby's face fell. "Luci... You can't b-" 

"Was I unclear?" He retorted, pointing at the elevator. "You punched a guy, in _my_ building, on _my_ clock, as _my_ HR manager." He said in a low growl. "You're going up to my office, right now. Sit your ass down and wait for the police to arrive." His voice was clearcut and hard.

Ruby clearly still wanted to argue. She looked around for support, seemingly surprised at the horrified faces looking back at her. After a short silence she gave in with a huff, getting into the elevator to go up to the office. 

Lucifer looked around the hall. "As for the rest of you, I'm sure you have work to get to. Stay available incase eyewitnesses are requested."

With a loud murmur the gathered crowd dispersed until it was only Sam, Gabriel, the first aid guy, Lucifer and Balthazar. Balthazar thanked the people on the other end of the line. "They're on their way. They estimate they'll be here in ten minutes." 

Lucifer nodded. "Thank you. Can you explain to Charlie what happened? Let her know Gabriel is going to take a paid day off to help Sam recover?" 

"Of course." Balthazar agreed. "I'll swing by your office after the police are done okay? In case you need some extra testimony." If the situation had been different, Gabriel would be sure that was a eufemism, but with the situation at hand and the way Balthazar said it, it sounded more like he'd be there in case Lucifer needed to talk. 

Lucifer nodded. "Thank you." 

Balthazar turned to Gabriel. "If there's anything we can do for you guys, let us know." 

"I'll call." Gabriel promised. "Thanks for jumping in." 

Balthazar nodded before making his way to The Cave.

They decided to leave Sam in the entrance hall until the ambulance arrived, not wanting to worsen his situation by moving him. Gabriel held on to his hand as the other guy examined the bruising. Luckily Sam seemed to be doing better by the minute. He wasn't doing good, but Gabriel no longer felt like he'd die right in front of him now. 

The first aid guy explained something about how his body had mainly been reacting to the trauma by shutting down. Sam was running a fever too in response to his body trying to heal. 

Lucifer told everyone that entered the building and stopped to stare or to ask what had happened that they should keep on walking. Gabriel knew it was most likely just a ploy, but he still appreciated Lucifer being there to take care of that. Gabriel and the other guy kept Sam talking to keep him conscious until they heard the sound of sirens in the distance. By now, Sam seemed a little bit level headed, but he was still barely able to move without groaning in pain at the effort. 

When the sirens were near enough, Lucifer headed outside to help the first responders to get in. He returned with two policemen and two ambulance workers, carrying a stretcher. "He's thare on the ground." Lucifer told them. The two medics hurried over to Sam, sutting the stretcher beside him as the crowded over him. 

"Mister Winchester? Can you tell me what day it is?" They went through the same line of questioning as the other guy went through earlier. At the end, they told him that there didn't seem to be any damage to his frontal cortex. Gabriel tried to follow the line of conversation, but he couldn't be sure what exactly they were testing for. They asked Sam if he could still hear properly, if his eyes were picking up light before testing it with a little flashlight they had on hand. 

The things possible consequences those questions implied were too serious for Gabriel to wrap his head around. Sam described a low ringing in his ear and being unable to open the eye properly, but still being able to see lights and shapes. Gabriel stayed quiet throughout all of it, holding Sam's hand until the police asked him to follow them into a conference room to give a statement. He looked at Sam, not really willing to leave him. 

One of the officers noticed that Gabriel was holding Sam's hand and put a soft hand on his shoulder. "We don't have to do this now, but it is usually better to get it over with right away. It'll just take a few minutes." She assured him, before asking the medics if they could warn them before getting Sam to a hospital. Once they assured the both of them Sam wasn't leaving without Gabriel, Sam dropped Gabriel's hand, giving him a reassuring smile. "Go, I'm doing a lot better. Nothing's going to happen while you're there." The drained tone of his voice wasn't making it easier, but Gabriel wasn't going to fight him on anything right now.

The officers guided him to one of the meetingrooms Lucifer had appearently ordered to be cleared. Giving the statement was harder than he had suspected. It had all happened in such a blur. Gabriel felt almost drained of emotion as he told the police how Ruby approached them when she saw them walking in together, and why that bothered her. He also told them about the bloody ring and way Sam had shielded him. They asked if she had been violent toward Sam before. He honestly didn't know. He didn't think so, but he wouldn't be surprised either. 

Once they were done, Sam was already gone from the hall. They instead escorted him outside, where Sam was lying in the ambulance, hooked on some IV. The medic that was with him stepped out to give a report to the police.

Gabriel shook as he took in Sam's form when he stepped inside the ambulance. He had been powering through on pure adrenaline so far, but when he saw Sam lying there, ready to be taken to a hospital, because of a jealous ex, everything hit him at once. Sam looked so fragile, his head bandaged up but still swelling. There was an IV drip in his arm a small heart rate monitor clipped to his finger.

Gabriel could feel tears running down his face before he even realized he started crying. Sam reached over to grab his hand. "I'm doing better." He assured him softly. "But they need to check if she broke my temporal bone and if there are lose fragments damaging my brain right now." He explained, sounding a lot more coherent than he had earlier. 

Gabriel took Sam's hand in both of his. "I'm sorry." 

"Gabe don't. This isn't your fault." He assured him before the medic entered again. 

"Mister Novak, are you ready for us to leave?" She asked in that careful tone that told him she had no idea yet what they were going to face once they got to the hospital.

"Of course. What is going to happen now?" he asked as he sat down on the little chair that was bolted to the ambulance, close enough to keep holding Sam's hand.

"When we get to the hospital we are going to make some X Rays and some other internal scans. We need to make sure there is no damage to the ear canal or brain. If there is nothing dangerous going on, he can go home with a dosage of pain medication and a check up in two months. If we do find something, we'll have to go from there, but you might have to prepare for a surgery with possible loss of hearing on one side, or loss of some brain functions." 

Gabriel looked at Sam in utter shock, but apparently Sam had heard it already. "It's a very small chance, they just need to make sure." 

"That's right. I just want to lay out all possibilities, but there is a big chance this will not leave permanent damage." 

Gabriel nodded, his mind already racing to how he was going to help Sam in any possible scenario. 

The medic stayed in the back with the two of them on the way to the hospital. Although he would like some time alone with Sam, he was comforted by the knowledge that if anything happened at this point, she would be able to act on it right away. 

As they drove, Sam told Gabriel that he had decided to press charges against Ruby for assault. Gabriel smiled at him. "Good, she'll pay for this."

When they arrived at the hospital, a bed was wheeled out to transfer Sam to. The medic assured Gabriel it was just a precaution in case the temporal bone was actually broken and floating around in Sam's head. Even if it was just a precaution, it added to the feeling of dread. The way they handled Sam like one wrong move could be fatal, and in honesty, it could be. 

As soon as Sam was on the bed, Gabriel was by his side again to hold his hand. He was allowed to accompany Sam as they wheeled the bed through the halls. When the reached a large door, the medic from earlier told them Sam had to undergo some tests, and Gabriel couldn't join him for that.

He was told he had to wait in the general waiting room until they were done, which would at least take about an hour. The medic also promised Gabriel that if Samhad to go for a surgery straight away, she would make sure they'd notify Gabriel at once. 

Gabriel headed to the waiting room, feeling the gloom that usually hung over hospital corridors bare down on him. The TL lighting, the smell of disinfectant, it was all too much. He grabbed his phone. Charlie and Balthazar had both texted him to ask how Sam was doing. He decided to call Charlie first in the hope they were together. 

She picked up on the first ring. "Gabe? How is he?" 

"They took him into the hospital. Is Balthazar there?" 

"Yeah, I'll put you on speaker." 

"Thanks." 

He started of by thanking Balthazar for holding Ruby back and messaging Lucifer right away. After that he recalled everything that happened. How it felt to walk into the building with Sam. He swallowed as he realized what had brought them to do that in the first place. 

His friends didn't seem surprised to hear that Gabriel and Sam both planned on leaving. In fact, Charlie assured him that he didn't need to change his schedule to help with their understaffing problems. She knew Gabriel and Sam were working on starting their own business so she had seen it coming. apparently. 

He was glad to hear that, but told her to hold off on finalizing anything like that for now, at least until they knew if Sam was going to come out of this okay. He explained that Sam was now being scanned. His voice broke as he recalled the way Sam looked as they wheeled him in and how scary it had been to see him in that ambulance. 

Gabriel was so grateful he was able talk the experience over with his friends, just to go through it all again and make it make sense in his head. It made him feel less alone. He didn't care that he was crying by now as he talked about the possible brain damage Sam might have. He was far from the only one in the waiting room that was crying. When he felt a little calmer, he asked if they had any clue what had happened in the office as a result of the fight. 

Apparently, Ruby was taken away in handcuffs. Balthazar had gone up to Lucifer's office to report on what had happened, as he called it, and it turned out she had been playing her usual game of pretending like she was actually the victim, because Sam cheated on her with a guy. 

Gabriel didn't care about how false that was, he just hoped she wasn't going to get away with that excuse. Apparently not if they dragged her off in cuffs. Some of the people involved had been contacted for a statement, and apart from that, not a lot had changed.

He talked to his friends for over half an hour before the call ended. Gabriel promised to keep both of them updated. They offered to come by after work if Sam had to stay in the hospital for the night, but Gabriel told them it wasn't necessary. He didn't want to consider that as a possibility yet, and even if it happened to be the case, he was pretty sure he'd rather just stay with him as long as he was allowed to and then be alone with his cats at home. 

It was hard to not feel the dread bearing down on him as he waited for news. The waiting room was filled with frightened people, people crying and then just a mix of people there for a check-up, trying to ignore the other groups. Gabriel tried distracting himself from his own worry by looking through his phone or picking up a magazine, but it all seemed meaningless as long as he didn't know how Sam was doing. He kept a tight eye on the large clock on the wall. They told him it would take at least an hour around nine thirty. When ten thirty passed without any news, he had to hold himself back from going up to the reception and asking for an update. It wouldn't help Sam if someone had to disturb the doctors to see how it was going and the lady from the ambulance had promised to keep him updated as soon as there was news. 

The minutes went by too slowly, but around a quarter to ten, Gabriel no longer cared for how dreadful it had been to wait. His eyes had been trained onthe doors to the corridor. Each time they opened he hoped a if a doctor or nurse he recognized came through it, each time it had been a dissapointment. It was only when he saw Sam walked through that door that he realized he hadn't even considered that to be a possibility. 

Sam stood there, no IV, not transported on a bed by a large medical team. It was just Sam, looking alive and well. Or at least as well as someone could look with their face bandaged up. Sam looked around the room with the one eye that wasn't covered in bandages. 

Gabriel hurried towards him, smiling as he saw the other smile at him. "Sam, you're walking!" Gabriel said amazed. 

Sam pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm okay." He assured him, and the words alone send a wave of relieve through Gabriel. "There's a small fracture in my skull, but nothing dislodged or something like that." He explained. "I need to head to reception to plan a check-up, and go past the pharmacy for some heavy pain medication, but that's nothing we can't overcome." 

It was amazing to see the change in Sam from how he had looked right after it happened. Gabriel vaguely remembered the first aid guy mentioning it was the body shutting down to deal with direct trauma, but at that point, he hadn't believed that he would be seeing Sam doing this well in a few hours time. He was sure the pain medication helped with that as well. 

"I'll get us an Uber home while you do that." Gabriel told him, taking some extra time to look Sam over, just because he needed to make himself believe Sam was really there, with only a big bruise and a bandage. After making a follow-up appointment and getting the medicine, they were able to just go home. 

On the uber drive home, Sam contacted Lucifer to let him know how he was doing and that he needed a few days off until he was able to lower the dosis of pain medication. Gabriel took the time to let Charlie and Balthazar know Sam was being released right away, and that he might need an extra day off to take care of him. 

After they both put their phones away, Sam told Gabriel about the scans and the doctors early predictions, but they both stayed away from talking about the incident itself. Gabriel didn't feel like addressing it with other people around and Sam seemed to agree with that. While they were sitting in the back of the Uber, he could feel Sam's hand brushing against his. Sam gave him an apologetic smile, to which Gabriel smiled back before taking Sam's hand in his. 

Luckily the ride home wasn't that long, especially since the traffic wasn't really bustling around eleven AM. When they arrived home, Sam asked if it would be a problem for him to go lie down for a little. Gabriel helped him up the stairs, since his depth perception was severely limited with the bandages blocking one eye. As soon as Sam got to his bed, Gabriel turned to leave.

"Could you stay for a bit?" Sam asked, his voice as apologetic as it had been all morning. "I don't really want to be alone with my thought right now. Just for a bit, I'm sure the painkillers will put me to sleep in no time." 

"Of course." Gabriel turned around, seeing Sam take of his button up shirt. There was a little blood on the front and it was a complete wrinky mess. Gabriel tried not to blush as Sam shrugged it off, reveiling the hunk of muscles he was. 

Sam noticed the way Gabriel looked at his body and huffed out a laugh. "Ruby always warned me I wouldn't be able to hold myself up in a fight, no matter how much I'd train." He looked down at himself. 

It was weird in a way, to be reminded of how strong Sam was after seeing him so fragile. The words made Gabriel think about something he had been wondering about eversince he gave the statemant to the police. "Has she ever hit you before?" He asked, carefully studying Sam's expression to make sure Gabriel hadn't crossed a line. 

Sam's face dropped as he sat down on the bed. He sighed. "Never." He admitted. "But if I'm honest. I don't think she meant to hurt me." 

"I don't know. From what I've heard, she seemed pretty intent with the way she angled her ring." Gabriel told him, unsure how much of that Sam had heard yet.

"Yeah, no. I think the moment she did try to his me, she went all out and I don't doubt she knew what she was doing. She does martial arts at our gym so she knows exactly where the weak spots are."

"But you don't think she intended to get violent?"

"Not with me." There was in Sam's eyes that made Gabriel think he was ashamed of his thoughts.

"What do you mean?"

"I could see it in her eyes, the way she looked at you."

That's when it clicked. That's why Sam had been so reluctant to talk about it in the hospital and the car ride home. "You think she planned to hit me?" 

"I'm pretty convinced of it actually." He answered in a soft tone. "And I wasn't going to let that happen." 

Gabriel stayed quiet for a moment. He thought back about that morning, suddenly remembering how Sam had stepped up between Gabriel and Ruby, how his first instinct after being hit was to shield Gabriel and how Ruby had been angry enough at that to finish by kneeing him in the balls. He was at a loss for words as he looked at Sam, who had stood up for him since the beginning. "Thank you." He muttered after a long silence. "I'll help you get through this. If there's anything you need, I'm here." He smiled softly as he helped Sam into bed property. 

Sam smiled as he grabbed his hand again. "I just need you Gabriel." 

No matter how sweet that was, Gabriel couldn't help but grin. "I think the pills are getting to your head. And I was actually talking about medicine or like a glass of water." He said, stroking the back of Sam's hand. "You've already got me." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyy, sorry to do this again. I really wanted to be on time and stick to my schedule, but some real life stuff is filling my time. next update will be the 24th. I'm so sorry.


	15. Chapter 15

Gabriel stayed by Sam's side until the other fell asleep. The doctors warned them that Sam would probably sleep a lot, especially the first few days. The mix of medication and the body trying to heal itself would keep him tired. Beanie was purring at Sam's door. She had grown quite fond of him, but Gabriel was afraid she might try to play with the bandages, so he wanted her to stay outside while Sam slept. It was pretty hard to hold her back from getting in anyway as Gabriel left, but he picked her put before she could slip past him. 

He closed the door slowly as he petted the cat. "Sam can't play right now sweetie." He told her as she looked at the door. He was glad he at least had his cats to keep him company as he waited for Sam to wake up. They always made him feel better. 

When he was downstairs, Gabriel was unsure what to do. He wanted to start working on the plans for the company. Their strategy only needed some finetuning, something he and Sam should finish together, but he considered doing some research into the image of their brand. He wouldn't be amking any decision, it would just some ground work, so he could spend his free time doing something useful until Sam woke up, or he needed to wake him for another dose of medication. 

Gabriel groaned in frustration as he reread the same sentence for the fitfh time, barely recalling why he was even googling colors. He couldn't get his mind to focus. Everything reminded him of what happened that morning, even the faint white hue in the background of the website reminded him of the tiles in the waitingroom. The descriptions on the website reminded him aswell.. He was reading up on logos and the effect of different shapes and colors had on the phycology and expectation of consumers. Anything set him of. Red, the color of Sam's blood on the tiles. Diamant, the cut of Ruby's ring. It was like he was torturing himself. He kept seeing Sam on the tiles of the entrance hall or on the hospital bed, being rushed to a room to see if there were bone fragments floating around in his brain. He closed his laptop, this was getting him nowhere. 

Having his mind empty was perhaps an even worse decision. He had to hold himself back from going up to Sam's room to check if he was still breathing many times. He considered busy his mind by gaming until Sam woke up, but almost all his games dealt with a lot of violence and fighting s that wasn't really an option either.

By the time Sam came downstairs, Gabriel was lying outstretched on the couch, his cats surounding him for comfort as he pet them. Even Socks, who usually chose to stay in her box, was lying near his feet and keeping an eye on him. Gabriel closed his eyes as lay, trying to block out the worries in his head and trying to foccus on the positives. Sam was alright, or at least he would be with a little time. Ruby had exposed herself as the monster she had always been, he and Sam were closer than ever. When he had almost succeeded in distracting himself enough to feel a bit more at ease, his eyes flew open at the sound of footsteps acompanied by the lingering smell of the disinfectant the doctors had used to treat Sam. 

Before Gabriel could even get up, Beannie jumped off of him to make her way over to Sam. The other chuckled as crouched down to pet her, one hand firm on the back of the couch for support. As Gabriel sat up, Socks moved back to her own corner of the room. Gabriel smiled at the cat, feeling grateful that she kept watch over him. 

He turned to Sam. "How are you feeling?" He asked softly. He caught himself looking Sam over again, his eyes lingering on the side of his head, where the bandages covered the bump that formed right where Ruby had hit him. The swell was still clear underneath, thick enough to close off half of Sam's eyes. They had covered the eye in bandages as well, since the bump made the skin around the socket lay unnatural, forming constant tearing and blurry vision. Eventhough that meant Sam had no dept perseption like this, the doctors had assured him it was more comfortable than having the eye uncovered. 

"Better, still a bit dazed I guess." Sam answered as he sat down next to Gabriel. "What about you?" 

"You shouldn't be worrying about me." 

"I still do." Sam voice was soft. "I didn't mean to drag you into any of this Gabe... But thank you for sticking around anyway." 

"I can't say it's not an exciting ride." Gabriel grinned, trying to lighten the conversation a little. 

They decided to just hang back and watch some Netflix to pass the day. It wasn't like they were going to get anything useful done, they might as well try to relax as far as possible. They had barely started an episode before Sam groaned. . "Sorry, can we turn this off. It's messing with my head." He asked, an apologetic look washing over his face. 

Gabriel turned the television off instantly, not wanting to cause Sam any harm. "Are you okay?" 

"Yeah, it's just making my head hurt to stare at the tv. Would you mind if I try reading for a bit?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Do whatever makes you feel okay." He assured Sam, taking out his phone to scroll on tumblr for a bit. It was easier to keep his mind busy now that Sam was next to him and he wasn't making up constant doom scenarios of him dying in his sleep. 

It didn't take long for Sam to put his book down again. "Okay, concentrating on small letters is also causing headaches." He sighed, sounding frustrated with himself.

Gabriel looked at Sam for a second, feeling bad. He then smiled a little, taking the book on Norse Mythology and opening it at the bookmark. 

Sam looked at him curiously. 

"I'll just start at the begin of this story if you don't mind." Gabriel offered with a grin. The book was devided in chapters, each chapter a completely seperate myth, so he could just in, even if Sam was already halfway through the book. "Thor's wife was the beautiful Sif. She was of the Aesir." 

"What are you doing?" 

"Reading. I happen to like mythology a lot and it's not like either of us have something better to do." 

"Oh." Sam was surprised, but he didn't argue. Instead he leaned against Gabriel as he continued, with an arm now loosely around Sam.

"Thor loved her for herself, and for her blue eyes and her pale skin, her red lips and her smile, and he loved her for her long, long hair," He couldn't help but play with Sam's hair softly as he read that part, earning a soft smile. "the colour of a field of barley at the end of summer." 

He read Sam the whole chapter, the two barely moving except when Gabriel had to turn a page. Gabriel hadn't expected anything would be nice on a day like this, but it was. 

After the story finished, he asked Sam if he wanted to hear the next, but Sam told him he was fighting to stay awake, so he helped Sam to bed instead. When Sam was asleep again Gabriel texted Charlie, asking her for another day off, and to maybe work from home for the rest of the week, so he could be with Sam in case he needed something. As he suspected, Charlie was more than okay with that. 

The next time Sam came down, they read another passage of Norse Mythology, after which they both decided to turn in for the night. It was early, but it had been a hell of a day and Gabriel was glad for it to be over. He told Sam he could wake him up for anything, although he was pretty convinced Sam wouldn't do that unless he had no other choice. He made sure Sam had water and a bottle of painkillers at his bedside. 

When Gabriel walked into the living room the next day, Sam was already awake and dressed. He had earpods in, so Gabriel presumed he was listening to music or maybe a podcast knowing Sam. Gabriel put a hand on his shoulder to alert Sam that he was there. Beanie was a lot less subtle as she jumped on his lap.

Sam chuckled. "Well good morning to both of you." He grinned after taking out his earpods. 

"How did you sleep?" 

"Pretty well, considering everything." He shrugged. "Do you have to go back to work today?" 

"I asked Charlie for an extra day off, so I'm free all day."

Sam smiled widely at that. "Do you think you could come to the police station with me? I was just listening to my emails and they asked me to come in and give a testimony as soon as I was able." 

Gabriel wasn't surprised that Sam had found a way to look through his email, even without being able to read easily. He squeezed Sam's shoulder. "Of course. Are you nervous?"

"I don't know." Sam admitted, his smile faltering. "I mean, it's weird. Despite everything, I shared the last four years of my life with Ruby. A part of me still cares for her. I'll never forgive her, not for what she did when we were together and not for attacking us, but I mean..." He sighed, looking up at Gabriel. "If the state decides to prosecute her as well, she could end up in jail. I don't think I want that."

Gabriel didn't think she'd actually go to jail for something like that, but then again, she had gotten close to causing serious brain damage. Something in Gabriel wanted to see her suffer in response. "What would you want?" 

"I don't know. I mainly just want this all to be over." Sam admitted with a sigh. "I just want to leave Ruby and Morningstar inc. in the past and start our own company." He admitted. "But I don't think it's that easy." 

"Of course not. Nothing is ever easy." Gabriel agreed. "But you can make eating the right way hard, and you managed either way. You're already doing better than you were. I think we'll be fine in the long run." 

As Gabriel made them breakfast, Sam called the station to schedule an appointment for later that day. 

Sam looked like he hadn't been on a bus in ages. He looked almost as awkward as the people that tried not to stare at his bruised face and bandages. Gabriel led them to a seat in the back. With Sam's long legs barely fitting, they were pressed together in their seats. Gabriel smiled at Sam, trying to ignore how being pressed up against Sam still made him nervous. Especially while being out in public. "Welcome to my world." He grinned, remembering the fancy restaurant. 

Sam chuckled, looked around. "You know I didn't grow up eating caviar either right... My brother and I used to always take the bus to my uncles scrapyard before we moved there. It makes me think back on that time, and my time in college of course." 

"Real man of the people." Gabriel teased, earning a laugh. It was sweet to hear the nostalgia that Sam felt for the simple life. He probably hadn't even realized how his life became vastly different in little steps. It's something that's only noticeable when you are reminded of how things used to be. 

Gabriel was sure he had changed as well in his time with Sam. It was apparent in little things. Gabriel had grown so accustomed to getting driven to work, he wasn't used to the bus anymore either. The vague, but lingering scent of other people's sweat and the bits of food that got stuck between the seats. The constant noise of people chatting in a hushed tone. The jerky driving style of a chauffeur that was always a few minutes behind on his schedule, trying to catch up. It was a familiar displeasure that he hadn't missed perse, but that he still appreciated having to go through for now. 

The bus drew to a halt after Gabriel pressed the button. Their stop was only half a street away from the station itself. It wasn't a long walk, but with every step, Sam's nerves seemed to grow. When they were almost there, Sam grabbed Gabriels hand again. Gabriel looked at him from the corner of his eyes. Sam did the same, throwing him a small, uncomfortable smile before looking at the station again. 

Sam squeezed Gabriel's hand softly before dropping it in order to open the door for him, so they could step inside. 

Gabriel hadn't stepped foot in a police station since he had been caught painting a dick on the football field for his senior year prank. It was a very different experience to walk in without the handcuffs. The station looked pretty empty exact for the man at reception and the sound of chattering in a back room. 

The man at the reception desk looked intimidating at first glance. He was almost as tall as Sam and even through his uniform it was clear he had broad muscles. When his eyes fell on Sam's state his harsch expression turned into a welcoming smile in an instance. 

"Can I take your names and ask what I can do for you?" He pointed them towards a registration form. Gabriel hadn't been greeted that friendly when he was brought in, but that was probably by design.

Sam handed Gabriel the pen and paper with a small smile. As Gabriel filled in forms for both of them, Sam informed the man at the desk that they were there to give testimony. 

The man showed them to a waiting area, telling them an officer would be with them soon. 

The waiting room didn't match Gabriel's recollection of the waiting room at a police station. In his memory it was a fare more gritty, nerve wrecking place. But this was no different from the waitingrooms at a doctors office or a dentist. He had been more scared in the waiting room of the hospital. Then again, he had a genuine reason for fear then. The memory of sitting there alone was unsettling to say the least, and this time he reached out for Sam's hand. Sam smiled gratefully, like he had wanted the others comfort as well. 

They stayed silent, waiting until an officer came to pick them up. "Mister Winchester, and then you must be mister Novak." They let go of each others hand so they could greet the officer properly. The officer asked if Sam wanted Gabriel in the interrogation room with him and Sam said he would did. The officer lead both of them through a tight hallway and into a room. Gabriel was slightly disappointed that it wasn't like the movies, with the one sided glass and a bright desk lamp. Instead they stepped into a small office and were offered something to drink. 

The testimony wasn't that special, and Sam managed to stay stoic thought out. He was again holding onto Gabriel's hand under the table. When the officer asked about their relationship Sam blushed. Gabriel had been told that he could stay if he kept quiet, and he was relieved he didn't have to answer the question. How was he going to explain that technically they were just friend, but about to be business partners. Not dating, but very close and both interested. It wasn't an affair but right after Sam and Ruby broke up, Sam moved in with Gabriel in secret. 

Sam seemed to struggle with it as well. He looked at Gabriel before he answered. 

"Gabriel is a close friend. When I found out Ruby was cheating on me, I went to his place and he let me stay on his couch. When it became clear that Ruby wasn't going to give up my apartment he allowed me to stay." 

"On the couch?" The implication was clear in the tone the officer took. 

"No." Sam swallowed. "We went to IKEA to get a spare bed." 

"Miss Kristy claims you two were having an affair and are still romantically involved." 

"I'm aware, she has been implying that since she met Gabriel. Just as she has with most people I was close with during our relationship." 

"And you are saying there is no romantic relationship between you and mister Novak." Her eyebrows quirked, looking at how close the two sat together. Sam squeezed Gabriel's hand softly.

"I am saying that I did not have an affair while being in a relationship with Ruby." 

"Are you in a romantic relationship at the moment." 

"No." 

"You are not?" 

"No." Sam repeated, not deliberating on the statement. "Any further questions?" He seemed annoyed at the insistence, but didn't let go of Gabriel's hand, no matter how suspicious it probably looked. The officer looked a bit uncertain as she continued, now going over the way Ruby had laid claim to Sam's apartment. 

The testimony took a hour and a half in total and Sam looked completely exhausted by the end of it. He still asked what they expected to happen now. Appearently Ruby had made bail, so she was out for now, but the state prosecutors had laid out assault charges. The officer wasn't sure what punishment would be sought, but since it was a first time offence, she suspected it would probably be a fine and mandated anger management. 

Sam asked if it would be okay for him to try and get his apartment back, since it had almost been a month since he send the eviction notice and the officer advised him not to face that confrontation himself. Instead she asked him to sign a sort of warrant, allowing the police on his property to evict a squatter. Sam gave Gabriel his phone so he could send the officer proof of his eviction notice and she promised the apartment would be inspected today and any squatters would be taken care of. Sam would be informed afterwards and would receive a new key in the mail. Because Ruby was now seen as a danger, they would make sure the locks were changed so Ruby wouldn't be able to return and endanger Sam. 

When they left the police station, Sam was barely holding on to consciousness. The doctors had warned that the medication would make him tired, especially for the first few days. "That went well, right?" Gabriel asked as they walked over to the bus stop. 

"I think so." Sam said. "I mean, I'm even getting my apartment back." He yawned slightly.

Gabriel tried not to think about that. Of course he knew Sam would go back to his own place as soon as he could, but he was going to miss living with Sam. The last few weeks made him realize how much he enjoyed having someone with him. Having Sam with him specifically. 

"Right." Gabriel smiled. "You know, maybe with the whole injury and everything, it's best you don't live alone right now?" It wasn't an excuse, but he was happy to use it either way. 

Sam smiled. "Yeah I uh, I think that's smart. But I do think it's best if I go back to the appartment if the police is going to clear it. Otherwise there's not much use to it." 

Gabriel sighed, that was a good point. "That's true as well." 

"So would you mind?" Sam asked, confusing Gabriel. 

"Mind what?" 

"Moving in with me for a bit." Sam explained. "You don't have to. But you're right, it's smart to have someone close until I feel a bit better."

Before Gabriel could answer the bus stopped in front of them. As they walked over to two free seats, Sam continued. "I mean, you don't have too, but I quite like the arrangement we have, and I feel like you feel the same." He explained. "You don't have to decide right now, and please don't feel pressured to say yes. I can always work something out." He assured him. 

Gabriel smiled at Sam. "Can the cats come?" 

"Of course." 

"Then yes. You're right, I don't feel like going back to living on my own, and I think that your injury is a pretty good excuse to keep this up for a little longer." He grinned. 

Sam put his head on Gabriel's shoulder. "Thank you." He muttered as he closed his eyes. 

Gabriel didn't waker Sam up until they were at their stop. Sam still looked at exhausted, so as soon as they were home, he helped Sam un the stairs. Beannie hurried past them, already waiting at the door of Sam's room. Sam chuckled as he saw her. "I'm sure it's fine, she hasn't played with the bandages yet." He assured Gabriel. 

As soon as the door opened she hopped on Sam's bed, purring contently. As soon as Sam lay down, she settled on his chest, looking triumphantly. Gabriel petter her. "Yeah yeah. You got your way." He laughed. Sam smiled, taking another painkiller before he looked at Gabriel. "Thanks for coming to the station with me. I really don't know how I would be able to handle this all on my own." He admitted. 

Gabriel smiled. "You would have." He assured Sam. "But it's more fun like this, don't you think." 

Sam smiled. "It really is." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your patience when I miss an upload.   
> I get so happy reading your comments and I genuinely feel bad when I don't manage to upload on Wednesdays, so I'm really sorry. Things are a bit rocky so I might be a day late or skip a week in these last few chapters, but I'll try to keep it as consistent as possible.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!   
> I would love it if you could let me know what you thought about the story so far.
> 
> It's a cliche, but kudos and comment really keep me going and feedback really helps me learn :)


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